


(Do Not) Stand In The Shadow

by elimak



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Eventual Smut, Horror, M/M, Modern Era, Mystery, Violence, ereri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-08 09:43:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 75,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1936185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elimak/pseuds/elimak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ereri. Vampire!Levi AU. Levi's calm, long life gets disturbed by a pompous kid showing up at the wrong places at the wrong time. His life definitely doesn't need the sort of drama, but the kid doesn't deserve this either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zhenya (known as harulevi on tumblr)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Zhenya+%28known+as+harulevi+on+tumblr%29).



> It's going to be a long fic, just a heads up for anyone who gets interested in it. So far i've planned 9 chapters ahead, there's going to be fluff and angst and comedy and a bit of violence (it's a vampire AU after all) any kind of feedback will be greatly appreciated, I'll try to put up the chapters as quickly as I can

The tallish guy across the club dance floor nodded at him, raising his beer bottle. Levi smirked in return guessing it was the same guy who blew him off not 10 minutes ago. After doing this so many times, all of their faces start sort of blending in together like one large stereotype that Levi went after. Not too tall that he’d feel uncomfortable, short hair, preferably dark, well-built, and clear, defined face features, that soon get buried in his crotch.

He followed the stranger with his eyes, which were eventually forced to land on a group of three young boys. That was the word that Levi decided to use, because anyone who was dancing like that didn’t deserve the title man. They were trashing around like high school kids who were out for the first time on a school night, feeling rebellious and reckless, but most of all stupid.

It was amusing to watch them though. Levi smiled slightly to himself as the smaller one of them with blond hair almost down to his shoulders nearly slipped and fell while the apparent leader of the group, a taller boy in his early twenties with a mop of dark brown hair and a worn out black tee remained completely ignorant to his friend. He kept dancing and jumping never quite catching the beat, but it didn’t look like he cared. Levi looked him up and down and sighed tiredly, trying to ignore the sick nostalgic feeling of being young, naïve, oh and alive.

“Get me another glass.” Levi said not bothering to turn his head towards the bar knowing quite well that Hanji heard him.

“Spotted another one?” she asked curiously while pouring him his special wine. Hanji stored it in a separate place just for him and occasionally for Erwin if he decided to visit. The secret to it was, that it was about 0% wine and 100% blood. She didn’t wait for an answer because it was clear already “Wow third one tonight, what, are you on a bet with Erwin or something?” she added cheerfully, passing him the wine glass and putting her hands on the counter, leaning in a little to see which one Levi targeted this time.

“Wow! I like this one.” She exclaimed excitedly while looking at the boy jumping up and down “He’s got some funk!” Levi rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think anyone’s used that word since 1993.” He remarked.

“Pft! Says the person who swears like a 90 year old man, ain’t that right, mugwump?” She returned smug.

 “That’s not even the correct use of the insult, idiot.” Levi said calmly sipping the cool liquid, while putting on his shades. If he were to go after another boy again, he had to have enough blood in his system. Levi felt his heart start beating faster as he drank, almost reaching the standard human heartbeat rate. Almost. 

“Y’know for someone who recently got off, you still sound like you’ve been suffering from blue balls for the past decade.” Hanji replied almost bitterly fixing her blue vest over her white button up shirt.

Levi swallowed his last sip and waited a moment before opening his mouth, feeling his teeth get back into their proper place “Well so do you, except in your case it’s actually true.” He smirked smugly and watched as Hanji’s cheeks went slightly pinkish. Levi knew how to push her buttons, by now he knew how to push nearly anyone’s pressure points. But the thing with Hanji was that no matter how hard you pressed, you still couldn’t get rid of her. She stuck like a leech to the things that mattered and roamed as a free spirit through everything else. Levi admired that.

His lazy view was turned back to the dance floor as he pushed his shades back on top of his head with his two fingers. He glanced around quickly not seeing the group of boys. Damn Hanji distracting him. He turned around with a frown only to find that the boys had also just stumbled by the bar. The other friend, slightly taller, with a mop of short light hair on his head and a long face placed his hand determinedly on the table. 

“Bartender! Give me the cheapest and strongest drink you have, three of them!” he said throughout his laughter. The words were slurred and Levi could tell that the next drink was going to send him straight on his knees, looking up at the white toilet tank like it’s Jesus.

“Whoa boys what’s the occasion?” Hanji asked conversationally as she poured three shots of vodka for them.

“My buddy’s story got published in the New York f-fucking Times.” He said proudly patting the brown haired boy on the shoulder. The later simply grinned and nodded in response, he was pretty hammered too by the looks of it.

“Good job, kid.” Levi said locking eyes with him. He stared at him a few seconds longer than socially acceptable with a light smirk on his face before raising his wine glass to him. The boy stared back with his big green eyes before heaving a sigh and smiling widely at him.

Got him.

It was surprisingly easy working up humans like that. Make them feel special and wanted and they’re as good as yours. The whole routine was predictable, even a little boring, but satisfying nonetheless. Levi smiled to himself because sure enough the boy couldn’t take his eyes off of him the entire time he was at the bar.

“Don’t you think he’s a bit too drunk for this?” Hanji asked quietly so only Levi could hear. He didn’t answer, but it was one of those rare times when Hanji was right. Levi wasn’t a fan of fooling around with someone who could puke on your lap any second. Levi stared at the wine glass, seeing the red liquid slosh around in it lazily, before deciding that it wasn’t worth it.

“Me and Jean are thinking of taking off, you ready to go?” the shortest one, the one with the longish blond hair asked quietly after some time. But not quietly enough not to reach Levi’s sensitive hearing.

“Nah, you guys go, I’m uh-“ the Mr. New York Times writer threw a not-so-subtle glance towards Levi, which he pretended not to notice “I think I’m gonna hang around for a while.” He said with a small smile.

“Celebrating big time tonight, eh?” the tall one, Jean, replied wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. The shorter one giggled drunkenly and patted him on the back. They looked like two proud parents sending their child off to college and Levi couldn’t help but find that idiotically amusing.

He turned his attention to his drink once he heard his friends leave the club and started counting in his head.

“It’s a bit strange seeing someone drink wine at a club.” The brown haired boy dropped as he took a seat on the stall next to Levi. It took him less than 10 seconds to approach him, Levi was impressed. It usually takes guys more than 15.

“As it is strange to see a New York Times writer order the cheapest drinks.” Levi returned, turning to him and raising his eyebrow. The boy laughed airily.

“Fair enough.” He agreed. “I’m Eren.” He introduced himself extending his hand, which was swaying a little due to his lack of coordination.

“Levi.” He grasped the hand, noting the obvious contrast between his pale hand and Eren’s tanned one. “So how does it feel being a published writer?” he asked lightly. Levi put an effort in shielding his asshole personality, who knows, maybe the kid managed to sober up enough by now.

“It’s so fant- awesome!” Eren stumbled through his words, not quite sure which expression of joy to use. Okay so maybe not. “I’ve been working so hard and it’s finally actually paying off.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts, kid.” Levi dropped with a more serious note. These little joys never lived very long, Levi knew that better than anyone.

“Oh I will.” He agreed nodding to himself. “That’s why I’m here, I’m uh- enjoying myself.” He added suggestively, lightly bumping his leg against Levi’s.

Levi sort of wanted to laugh at his seduction attempt but kept his face cool and indifferent. Meanwhile Hanji had less self control as he heard her snickering while bending down to get a fresh bottle of tequila.

“P-perhaps you’d like to enjoy yours-“ Eren started, but Levi had to cut him short.

“Kid, I’m not interested.” he deadpanned “You’re way too drunk to be doing this.” He raised his eyebrows all-knowingly.

“What are you talking about? I’m not even that drunk!” Eren nearly yelled offended.

Levi raised his eyebrow “Oh, my bad, guess it was some other kid, who got upset because he couldn’t light the cigarette that he was holding backwards.” Levi replied a bit mockingly.

“That-” Eren started in self defense, but his face went red as he realized he had nothing “was an honest mistake.” He concluded “could happen to anyone.” He brushed it off casually, but the tips of his ears were burning. Levi could hear the blood pumping furiously inside him. “What were you doing watching me then anyway, huh?” he shot back squinting his eyes drunkenly, with a playful smile on his face.

“I like to occasionally observe the degradation of today’s society.” Levi answered coldly.

“What- uh” Eren stumbled confused “Are- are you mocking me?” he asked after a moment outraged.

“For a writer you’re not so quick with catching up on things.”

“Pft , y’know what? Just… whatever dude.” Eren stood up clearly offended now.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Levi dropped sarcastically. Eren shot him another outraged glare before getting off the stool. Levi waited till he was in the clear so he could take another delicious sip of his drink. He felt his sharp teeth extend before his lips touched the glass. It was uncomfortable every time.

“Are you doing some fucked up good cop bad cop routine on this kid?” Hanji asked confused, turning to him. The bar was nearly empty by then, only one other person at the end of it, too far to see Levi in detail though.

“Nah, I’m not going after him. He was being too forward, it’s annoying.” Levi scrunched up his nose a bit, not caring that his teeth were visible as he spoke.

“Yeah, I know, people who actually want you are the worst.” Hanji put her hands on her hips in fake annoyance. “They’re not letting you emotionally manipulate them into sex, instead they’re actually showing initiative. Wow, the nerve of these people!” 

“Exactly.” Levi nodded.

"It's a shame you turned him down." she sighed seriously now "I liked him."

"How surprising." Levi dropped. Hanji liked nearly everyone she met.

"Hey, there are people that I don't like" she replied haughtily like she caught up on Levi's train of thought. It was really creepy when she did that. "like them." she trailed off staring at the back of the club where a new group of three entered it.

Levi turned around and his face dropped. The three predators in their dark clothes stepped inside confidently, scanning the place with their sharp, piercing eyes, while their faces remained as cold as ever. The leader of the three, Ymir, a tall woman with dark brown hair, narrow eyes and a superior expression on her face motioned with her head for the other two men to follow her as they took a seat at the furthest table at the club.

One of the men, very muscular with light hair, large nose and thin lips pressed together tightly in a thin line resembled a body guard. In a lot of cases that was actually true as he was the main muscle of their pack. Anyone in the club who saw him backed up, making sure they wouldn’t get in his way. Reiner sort of had that effect on people. Good thing Levi wasn’t exactly people, nor was he easily intimidated.

The third one was the tallest of them called Bertolt. He had an especially calm, long face, short black hair and slightly hooded eyes making him look like he was constantly bored. He wasn’t particularly muscular nor did he look threatening like Reiner, but Levi knew better than that. In fact, he’d much rather take on Reiner any other day than get on Bertolt’s bad side.

Levi and Hanji exchanged a look and the naturally optimistic bartender sighed tiredly, fixed her heavy framed glasses and moved on to take an order from her next customer. Both of them knew why they were here. The fierce, hungry look on their faces was unmistakable. They were targeting people just like Levi did an hour ago, except their intentions were entirely different.

Levi felt kind of sorry for Hanji, knowing that not in 24 hours she was going to get assaulted by a few grumpy looking policemen, asking her questions about someone who had gone missing and was last seen at the club. Sometimes he thought those fuckers were doing it on purpose, and snickered behind their backs as Levi and the others were forced to lie through their teeth, protecting their own kind.

The blood in his glass stared back at him. Alright, so maybe Levi wasn’t exactly a saint himself. He’s done his fair share of killings, but at least his approach wasn’t that cocky and brutal. He never went for the innocent.

Levi scoffed under his breath in distaste and turned back towards the bar, he really didn’t want to see which one they picked this time, and continued finishing his drink.

 It seemed like Hanji was avoiding looking at them either, but the tension in her face was visible as day. Or night in this case. Whatever.

Levi sat there for another good 15 minutes after finishing his drink before deciding to leave. It was nearly 3am and he still had shit to do that day. No wait, night. God damn it. After all this time Levi still hadn’t properly figured how to phrase these things.

He stood up and left without as much as a glance at Hanji. What was the point, he was going to see her in a few hours at home anyway. He didn’t see Ymir’s group in the club anymore. Levi honestly didn’t know if he should be pleased or worried about that. He figured neither. It wasn’t his fucking business how they handled their food supply.

Levi breathed in the cold night’s air, the night wind was pleasantly caressing his face. This was by far the best thing about being a nocturnal being. His feet carried him through the street, his mind was already in another place when he heard voices from the dark alley nearby.

“Trust me dude, this party is going to be sick! You should come with us!” an excited male voice said in a considerably hushed tone.

“I don’t know guys, I- just- don’t know, y’know?” a drunken voice slurred. Levi rolled his eyes and continued walking.

“Eren listen to me, you deserve this. How many people there do you think wrote for the New York fucking Times? You’re gonna be a legend there.”

Levi closed his eyes. _Shit_.

That voice was unmistakable, the fake sweetness and encouragement could only belong to one cunning leader. Levi stopped in his tracks again. Of course it had to be him. Sometimes it seemed that the universe liked to lean back and laugh at Levi’s life. It was like hey, heard your life was pretty fucked up, here’s something even worse to take your mind off it.

Why was he still listening to this? He should have just walked away. It wasn’t his fucking business. So the kid’s gonna become their lunch, it’s not the first time this had happened. The brat should’ve thought twice before drinking that much and getting led on by strangers. It wasn’t Levi’s fault that he made these decisions. No, he was gonna walk away, getting involved in this wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“Hey kids, what are you up to?” Levi announced loudly stepping in the alley.

Nailed it.

“Beat it shrimp, this doesn’t concern you.” Ymir nearly hissed through her teeth. As Levi approached he saw just how terrible all of them looked, their skin was pale and thin, almost see-through, their eyes looked tired, hollow and their irises were already white. They hadn’t fed in more than a week. Fuck, he was gonna get shit for this.

“I think you should lay off him.” Levi declared calmly. Eren was hanging loosely, being supported by Reiner’s arm. From the look on his face Eren wasn’t quite sure what was happening. It was obvious why he became their target. Stupid fucking kid. Levi thought bitterly.

“And we don’t particularly care what you think.” Ymir returned cockily.

“Leave him be, Ymir.” Levi said in a deeper demanding voice stepping closer. They didn’t have enough strength to take him, even Bertolt. Ymir knew that. Nonetheless Reiner also took a step forward, standing near Ymir.

“Why the fuck should we do that?” her gaze was a bit crazed now. Levi tensed up slightly. This could mean sudden reckless actions form her side.

“The kid’s a junkie.” He replied quickly. This approach was his best option. “I mean look at him, he’s no writer for New York Times. Didn’t think you guys were that thick not to see it.” He said cleverly choosing his words.

“I don’t fucking care if he’s the president’s son or a professional garbage collector. Levi, we’re _hungry_.” The last word was stretched out almost like a plea.

“Levi…” Eren repeated suddenly, lifting his head a little. At least he wasn’t totally out.

“His blood is mixed with fuck knows what Ymir, do you remember what that did to you? To all of us?” Levi said urgently and this time Ymir took a second thinking. Levi knew what was replaying in her head. “Do you honestly want to go down that road again?” he added softly.

Ymir was angry. Her rapid breathing was only increasing. She lifted her head and bared her fangs at Levi, her irises were fully white. Levi remained still and refused the urge to step back, he wasn’t prepared for a fight. The blood deprivation was making her seem like an actual predator, a real undead being that didn’t belong in this world.

“I’m just looking out for you.” Levi said calmly staring at her, but Ymir wasn’t backing down, she was still breathing harshly. Levi sighed tiredly and was starting to bare his own teeth when he saw Ymir heave a sigh and motion to Reiner to give up Eren.

Reiner shoved him out of his grasp towards Levi, who caught him by his arm. The idiot still flailed and Levi had to hold almost his entire weight. Levi merely nodded at them.

“You could always go to Hanji, she has some more stored, I’m sure she can get you a discount.” Levi offered. He never understood the pride they took in killing people. Bertolt laughed at him under his breath, Ymir smiled too.

“We’re not going fucking vegan just because of a little hunger.” She laughed it off. Levi had the urge to raise an eyebrow sarcastically. “We’re doing this the way nature intended it to be.” She said proudly. “One has to be the prey and the other has to be the predator. You know that better than anyone Levi.” She said with a mocking smile.

Fuck that bitch.

Levi clenched his teeth and said nothing. They turned to leave, probably to just feed off the first person they see. Bertolt was the last to turn around from them. He looked between Levi and Eren hanging from his arm.

“Huh. You’ve gone soft.” He said with a hint of disappointment with those stupid hooded eyes of his before joining Ymir and Reiner.

Levi huffed tiredly under his breath and looked at the idiot hanging on his arm. He probably had no idea what just happened or more like what Levi just had to go through to save his good for nothing ass.

“Can you walk, kid?” he asked trying to get him upright. He mumbled something under his breath, but it was clear he couldn’t even stand. “Fucking Christ.” Levi swore under his breath. When did he become a god damn babysitter. This blubbering ass wasn’t worth his effort.

“Okay where’s your phone, I’m gonna call your friends to pick you up.” Levi said clearly articulating every syllable so it would reach him.

“Don’t have uh phone.” Eren mumbled putting his head into his hands. Levi huffed angrily, setting him down on the ground against a wall.

“Who the fuck doesn’t have their phone with them, it’s fucking 2014 dude.” He complained. “Alright whatever, just tell me where you live, I’ll call a cab.”

“Levi…” he mumbled lamely under his breath again.

“Yes we’ve already settled that, that’s my name. Focus you dweeb, where do you live?” he asked slightly shaking him by the shoulders. Eren shook his head a little, it seemed like it was too heavy for him to keep up.

“It’s like right next to that store, the uh brown building.” He mumbled. Eren’s eyes were shutting and he was drifting off to sleep.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Levi cursed almost completely losing his temper. “Yeah sure that’s god damn helpful.” He ran a hand through his hair instinctively before hauling him over his shoulder “Man I’m going to regret this.” He mumbled to himself as he started walking along the street again. He felt Eren stir under his hand a bit.

“Don’t you fucking dare puke on my jacket.” He roared threateningly. “I got it from Billy Idol.”

His apartment was dark, the curtains were still down, but Levi quickly navigated through the dark rooms, even with Eren on his shoulder, into his own bedroom. Bitterly, with more force than necessary he flopped down the kid on his bed, which he should be napping on himself right about now. He placed a bucket near the bed, dropped a blanket over his shoulders carelessly and turned on his laptop.

Great, now his night was ruined. He was gonna have to figure out how to make up to Ymir for this, cause he knew they wouldn’t forget this. The last thing he needed was rivalry between his own kind. I mean it still happened, but they preferred to keep the blood baths to a minimum.

With every snore he hated this kid more and more. Why the fuck did he have to butt in like that? Okay so maybe the kid didn’t deserve to die per say, but at the same time it wouldn’t have been his fault if he did.

Levi sighed, he hated to admit it, but he would’ve felt sorry for him if he did end up dead. Which was a strange feeling, he didn’t remember when was the last time he felt sympathy for an actual human. But for god’s sake, it was the kid’s breakthrough, he was probably at the peak of his career, but most of all he was innocent. Even to someone like Levi, no innocent soul should be put to death like that. A non-innocent soul-well that was another case. One that Levi took great part in actually.

To Hanji and Erwin, Levi probably wasn’t any different from Ymir and her group. Except that maybe he wasn’t so obsessed with killing and he did a quick clean job, while Ymir often liked the torturing part. Though Erwin might see through him and the fact that he only killed the people he thought deserved to die already.

Levi got lost in his own thoughts of what is wrong or right and even if there exists such a defined line between the two. More often than not, there is never a right choice, just the one which is less destructive and problematic, which is of course followed by the eternal battle of which is less evil, letting yourself burn while saving someone else or vice versa. Naturally we’re taught that the first option is always the right option, no questions asked. Because no matter how much you burn, salvation will come, eventually you get the sweet release from all the hurt you put yourself through to make others happy. But what about when there is no salvation? What about when you’re already cursed for an eternity to burn in a never aging body? You’re already fucked in the worst way imaginable, is it still right to give the little bit of life that you have for someone who might not even appreciate it?

That was why Levi’s worldview could be summed up in two words: fuck no.

It was nearly noon and Levi was on the brink of falling asleep himself. Instead he was stuck there babysitting some kid he didn’t even know. This was a clear example why good deeds come at a price. The price was Levi’s ass on the line.

He was envious of Hanji who was sleeping soundly in the next room. She was so tired after she got back, she didn’t even bother to check on Levi thus not finding out about their guest. Levi preferred to keep it that way.

The kid finally snored louder, turned over and slowly opened his eyes. The noise startled Levi awake as well.

“Oh thank fuck you’re awake.” Levi breathed a sigh of relief. His bed was finally going to be free. “Alright, off the bed, kid, I need my sleep.”  He clapped his hands near Eren’s ears. He flinched at the loud noise and slowly rubbed his eyes open.

“Where the fuck am I?” he asked in a harsh sleepy voice.

“At my place, but soon you’ll be at your own if you get your ass moving.” Levi explained quickly, his patience was extremely low when he was tired.

“At your-?” Eren repeated and finally looked at Levi. “L-Larry?” he asked squinting his eyes.

“That wasn’t even close. It’s Levi.” The vampire rolled his eyes. “But that doesn’t fucking matter, cause you’ll be gone in two seconds and we’ll live happily ever after not meeting each other ever again.” He rambled a bit, but he was past caring. His ramblings were a bit too much for Eren though as he frowned confused. He seemed to start to realize he was in a bed.

“Wait-“ he said raising the blanket experimentally, trying to see if he’s wearing any clothes “We didn’t hook up, did we?”

“Fortunately for both of us, no we didn’t.”

“H-how did I get he-“ Eren started confuse and Levi cut him short

“Look we can play twenty questions in about 8 hours over facebook or some shit, ‘kay kid?” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose impatiently.

“Jesus, fine fine.” He replied grumpily, finally getting out of the bed. Extremely slowly. The kid was still pretty drunk.

Levi watched with joy as his bed became vacant again. Of course he was going to have to change the sheets before he got on it again.

“Can I just ask for some water if it’s not too much, my throat is killing me.” Eren asked a bit shyly. Levi shot another last glance at the bed before sighing.

“Yeah sure follow me.” he led him to their tiny kitchen. Levi poured in some cold tap water for him, Eren extended his hand greedily for the cup, but before the cup reached his lips he quietly said to himself

“Wait…I remember.”

Levi froze in place. Eren was drinking his water slowly, while Levi panicked slightly. How much did he actually remember? Fuck. The kid was up and close as Ymir was going batshit. He saw everything.

“What do you remember?” the question left Levi’s mouth involuntarily. Eren swallowed the last gulp and opened his eyes starring wide at Levi. The shorter man’s expression remained unreadable though. He spent many years perfecting that look.

“Why did you do that?” Eren asked suddenly.

“Do what?”

“Take me away from them, they didn’t look like they meant harm.” Eren replied innocently. Once again Levi refused the urge to raise his eyebrow sarcastically.

“Yes they did. I know them, Eren, and they’re the bad kind of people.” He explained vaguely hoping it would be enough.

“ _Bad people_? What do I look like, 5?” Eren replied slightly offended. Levi almost blurted out ‘yes’. “Tell me the truth.”

Levi rolled his eyes. Oh god what was he supposed to make up now. He was too tired for this shit.

“They’re human traffickers.” He dropped finally. “I know them from awhile back. There was no party idiot, you were about to be sold to someone as a new toy.”

Eren’s eyes popped almost cartoon-like. He looked like he had finally woken up.

“Are you serious?” he asked quietly. Man this kid was gullible. “Holy shit…” he muttered mostly to himself.

“Yeah.” Levi said, not even bothering to look like he cared about what he was lying about. “So keep in mind to stay away from those people.”

“Stay away?” Eren asked confused. “What do you mean fucking stay away? If this is true, those guys deserve to be locked up!” Eren was getting emotional but worst of all, loud. “I remember what they look like, I even saw their car! I can help catch the-“

“Hey hey kid.” Levi interrupted his ranting. Shit he didn’t think this through “No you’re not. Look these aren’t the people you want to mess with okay? No simple police force is going to stop them and neither will you, because you’ll be dead two seconds after you make that call.” Okay so maybe Levi was stealing lines from dramatic action movies, they can fuckin’ sue him.

Eren listened to him wide eyed though. Drinking in every word and eventually frowning in disappointment.

“So there’s really nothing I can do?” he replied meekly.

“Yes there is. You stay the fuck out of their way, understand?” Levi was being serious now. “But most importantly, get the fuck out of my apartment.” Levi leaned in up close as he said those words.

Eren’s face flushed a little and Levi could hear and even smell some of Eren’s blood travelling downstairs. The kid can’t be serious, can he? Levi backed away and Eren scrambled to head towards the door.

“Uh, thank you. You kind of saved my fucking life back there, uhm I’m not even quite sure what to say.” The kid was at a loss for words. Levi’s face softened slightly.

“It’s fine really.” He dropped half-heartedly “and a goodnight will do.”

“Right, goodnight then.” Eren smiled at him warmly.

“Sure.” Was all the Levi said before shutting the door in his face. Good riddance kid, Levi thought joyfully as he flopped down on the blanket, forgetting about the sheets entirely.   


	2. A Day in the Life of a Vampire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for any typos or general mistakes. me and proof reading have a very complicated relationship. anyway enjoy

The smartphone buzzed, and an annoying little tune awoke Levi. He grumpily shut it off, nearly dropping the expensive phone and comfortably stretched under his bed sheets. It was only 8pm, but he had shit to do, there was no time for screwing around and sleeping in.

He heard Hanji already up and rustling somewhere in the kitchen. Sucks to be her, Levi thought, she had to get up almost every day at 7pm. Levi could barely handle waking up before 10pm, he couldn’t imagine the torture Hanji went through.

“Wow would you look at this!” she said cheerily, watching as Levi stumbled in the kitchen with his saggy tee, old sweatpants and a grumpy expression. “Shit, this is huge, gotta alert the press! I can imagine the headline ‘a once in a century occurrence: the bat is out of the coffin.’ ” she laughed. Hanji was already dressed in her dark tight pants, light blue shirt and the tight, dark blue vest, which she had to wear for work. Her hair was neatly tied in a high bun, except for the bangs which were too short to reach it. Levi frowned in confusion, Hanji’s face was almost glowing. She was fully awake and energized. It was almost like she didn’t mind getting up early. What a freak.

“Ha extra extra! How about you shut the fuck up.” Levi started in fake amusement before dropping his voice to almost a growl.

“Oh! Or I can get a hold of Eren, I’m sure he’d write a nice story about you.” Hanji kept teasing Levi. “Though it would probably be too explicit to publish in a public newspaper.” She winked at him, while Levi groaned in frustration. It was too early for this shit.

Hanji, of course, knew about Eren staying over. She said his scent was all over the place, especially Levi’s room. He told her what happened, and that now he was gonna be in deep shit with Ymir, and most likely Erwin. She listened with a serious face, but apparently none of that registered in her head. “I bet he was really fussy in bed.” was the first thing she said. No matter how much Levi explained that no, in fact he did not hook up with the guy two minutes after he fucked up his life, it was like talking to a wall.

Levi’s bitter reply got cut off by the beeping of a microwave. His eyes instinctively shot across the tiny kitchen to the top of the old and slightly rusty fridge, where the new, rectangular piece of metal kept beeping.

“What is that?” Levi asked calmly.

“My breakfast.” Hanji frowned, taking out her cup out of it.

“We have a microwave?” he asked quietly, frowning at the machine. Hanji burst out laughing, nearly spilling her cup.

“Yeah, for almost two years.” She said through her laughter.

“Why?” his frown deepened.

“So I could have a nice, warm breakfast that’s why.” Hanji rolled her eyes. Levi scrunched up his nose in distaste.

“You mean that’s warm blood?”

“Yes! Want some? It’s really good.” She offered before her eyes turned white and she took a large sip of her drink.

“You’re disgusting.” He shook his head while looking like he was about to throw up. Hanji merely raised an eyebrow at him, looking at Levi’s current pathetic state. She became considerably more sarcastic when she started living with Levi.

Hanji downed the entire cup in a few large gulps, wiped her mouth with a paper towel before taking her phone with her.

“Okay I gotta head to the bar.” She announced heading through the small narrow hallway to the door.

“So early?” Levi asked with only a hint of curiosity. But it was enough to let Hanji know he actually cared.

“Yeah, it’s the end of the month and someone’s gotta pay the bills.” She threw a glance at Levi. The shorter one turned his gaze away to the floor. He felt guilty about this. Hanji was doing all the work, while Levi hadn’t been able to get his shit together for almost 2 decades. But the thought of an actual job, where he had to sit and obey some obese sweaty guy in an ill fitted suit was making him want to run away again.

“I’ll pay my share, I promise.” Levi said quietly.

“Yeah, well you’re a few years behind on that.” Hanji dropped putting on her jacket. She wasn’t mad, she actually liked her job. But the disappointment in her voice was unmistakable.

Both her and Erwin thought that by now Levi would be back on his feet, but The Incident fucked him up real good. Levi was always a bit promiscuous and a bit of a druggie, but ever since The Incident (which they were not allowed to talk about anymore) he ran away from his last group and had been going straight down to rock bottom. Meeting Hanji and living with her had at least stopped him from the risk of overdosing (though none of them were quite sure what would happen to Levi if he did), but those 12 years hadn’t been enough for him to move on.

“I’ll get the money, today.” he added persistently. Hanji looked at him with a slightly worried look.

“You think I don’t know where your money comes from, do you?” she asked with a frown “Don’t bother, Levi. I got this.” She reassured him with a softer look. Levi scoffed under his breath in annoyance, he was offering to help after all. If she wasn’t willing to take the money, why did she have to get all whiny about paying the bills all by herself?

Hanji was gone a second later and Levi was left all alone in their tiny apartment. Erwin bought the apartment for him when Levi showed up back into his life. Levi had wanted to pay him back, but Erwin brushed it off saying he was repaying an old debt to him. Problem was, Levi couldn’t remember what that debt was and he was seriously doubting it ever existed.

The wallpapers used to be of a creamy color but with time they got dirty and now the entire apartment seemed grey and lifeless because of it.

There was a large contrast between Levi’s room and Hanji’s. Levi’s had almost no additional furniture, no posters, just a few old oil paintings that Erwin put in his room because he claimed there was no more room for them in his place. The furniture itself was mainly of dark heavy wood. His bed frame, closet and desk were made out of it, giving it an ever gloomier look. What the room lacked in furniture and color it made up in its tidiness. There were never loose jackets lying on the back of chairs, dusty desks or crumpled carpets. Levi’s life might have been a mess but letting his room become a war zone was stepping over the line even on his terms.

Hanji’s room was the exact opposite. Levi had gone in there perhaps 5 times overall and was disgusted every single time. Her clothes were scattered everywhere along with various papers and dust bunnies. She took the liberty of peeling off the ugly wallpapers and painting the walls in vibrant colors, yellow and red. During the first years she spent most of her saved up money on decorating her room. The very first things she bought out of her salary was a disco ball and a lava lamp, because she said she had always wanted one of those. After some time those got locked away in the closet as she followed the trends and got herself something new. However, deep at heart she never got out of her 80’s phase: she kept collections of records and cassettes in her room and let them continue gathering dust out of sentiment.

Levi took a quick shower and proceeded to dress himself appropriately. Instead of his usual dark pants, loose tee and another punkish jacket he obtained from a rock star, he chose traditional clothes, simple grey tee with a blue blazer and well fitting dark blue jeans. He had to play a role today so his appearance had to be perfect. He went by his desk where in the first drawer was the only item, a small notebook. He flipped it quickly through all the crossed out names and found the one which hadn’t been crossed out yet.

The silence in the room was disrupted by his laptop turning on. Levi quickly went through his files to find said person with his current address, job and charges. The target of today was a mister Matthew Hemmings, a 43 year old car mechanic who was accused of raping his step daughter until the age of 14. Never convicted. Still lived with said step daughter.

Levi merely frowned in disgust before turning to his wine collection cabinet and took three empty bottles. Out of the six that he had he was down to only one. The vampire fixed his look for the last time in front of his mirror, making sure his hair was parted neatly and there were no loose strands before heading outside.

The sun was already down but it was still considerably light. Levi squinted uncomfortably once stepping outside, but it wasn’t enough to damage his skin. After a while he got used to it. The house in question was a few miles away, but Levi walked nonetheless. By the time he could already see the small, yellowish house, Levi was fully awake and cheerily humming a catchy tune he heard while passing the store.

Without missing a beat he simply went up and knocked on the door. He remembered that decades ago it would take him time to prepare what he was going to say and how he was going to go through with everything. Now his entire body was like on autopilot.

A grumpy man with a balding head and a piggish face opened up the door. He was twice the size of Levi, but the vampire smiled politely nonetheless.

“Hello, uhm I’m really sorry to bother you, I realize it’s late.” he said with a perfectly crafted apologetic face “But I was on my way to New Jersey when my car broke down.”

“So?” the man bellowed annoyed. Levi showed no sign of offence however.

“Well… all of the car services I’ve called are already closed and frankly I don’t have any clue about cars and engines myself.” Levi laughed slightly embarrassed. “But perhaps you could help me, just take a look at it, let me know if it’s fixable or I should just rent a car.” He pulled out his best puppy eyes.

The man stood there dragging his thumb over his forehead while thinking.

“Please, I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t an emergency. My car is parked right over there.” Levi pleaded again, pointing blindly to the narrow alley nearby, where there was indeed a car parked in it, they could see the front of it. Levi was pleasantly surprised to see an actual car there. How convenient.

The man shot him a glare before sighing tiredly.

“Sure, lead the way, kid.” He said and Levi went on to thank him about a thousand times while he got out of the house. The moment he turned around from the man to lead the way to the small alley, his mask dropped, there was no point in keeping up his act anymore. The neighborhood was empty and quiet so Levi took out his wine bottles from the inside of his blazer pockets before fully entering the alley.

“It’s your lucky day kid, you happened to come across the best fucking mechanic in the block.” The man said proudly “You know they call me a- are those fucking wine bottles?” he asked suddenly stopping in his tracks. But they were already in the small narrow alley and it was nearly completely dark. The fish was in the net.

“I don’t know about my luck, but yours just ran out.” Levi stated calmly with a stone cold face while setting the bottles on the ground and putting on his gloves. The man was staring at him wide eyed, and realizing only then that the car Levi was leading him to had been standing there for a few months now. He’d scoff at it every time he went home from work about not being in its right place and blocking the way for other cars.

“Now listen here you fucking shrimp. I don’t know who you think you are, but-“ the man started bellowing, his face was going red. Levi frowned, he was being too loud so he thrust his hand out for the man’s throat, squeezing just at the right spot to suppress his vocal chords. The man gasped in surprise and instinctively swung his fist at Levi. The vampire managed to dodge the first hit while he was looking for his knife, but the second one hit home or rather right in Levi’s abdomen. He frowned a bit, fuck that stung, but not enough for Levi to loosen his grip even though the man hit with his entire strength.

The man’s eyes went wide and his face drained of color. It could’ve been because of Levi’s reaction to taking his hit or the pocket knife that he finally found or, and this was just a wild guess, the fact that Levi’s eyes were already white and a sharp set of fangs were growing out on top of his regular teeth.

Levi gave a swift kick to the man’s legs making him fall on his knees. Levi hated dealing with people who were that much taller than him.

“Consider this as payment for what you did to your step-daughter. You took her body and I’ll take your life.” He stated simply like he was talking about the weather at a boring lunch with his relatives.

The man at least deserved to know why he was going to die. Before the old man could start to whine out a plea, Levi rammed his pocket knife through the back of his head. Levi left the knife in so he wouldn’t get his nice clothes covered in nasty blood and waited for the last kicks and breaths of the creepy rapist. Levi then skillfully took out the knife after walking around him, tore off his shirt by the neck and expertly slid his knife through the main artery. The almost black blood started pouring out immediately in large gushes as Levi quickly scrambled to reach for one of the bottles and stuck the tip of it right on the wound.

He kept humming the catchy store tune as the bottles filled up. The blood itself wasn’t of the richest taste or smell Levi decided as he took a small bite on the other side of his fat neck while the bottles were filling. These bottles were going to be saved for a day when he craved something a bit more bitter.

Throughout the entire mess he managed to get only a few drops of blood on himself or more specifically on the gloves he wore, which were dispensable. Levi was walking away from the scene, leaving the man just lying there before he remembered something. He quickly went back and found the man’s wallet in his back pocket. He had a few hundred bills in there, which Levi thought should be enough to cover for this month.

Levi sighed in contempt, the ugliest part of the night was done. He took out a simple bag to put all the bottles in as it was too uncomfortable to carry them in his jacket now.

The trip back home seemed quicker as it always does. Even though Levi was kind of in a hurry to get everything done tonight, he still took off his shoes and took the time to burn the gloves and neatly collect the ashes.  It was fully dark outside now and Levi rolled up the blinds.

He turned his gaze away from the peaceful and quiet night’s view with a sigh and took his notebook where he crossed out Mr. Hemmings name. May that sick fuck never rest in peace.

It was nearly 10pm, Erwin was probably still sleeping so he had another hour to spare. Levi’s hand twitched as he realized what he was actually craving at the moment. A small voice inside him asked why was he even fighting, and moments later the text was sent out and a meeting was arranged.

Before leaving Levi changed back into his normal clothes, making him look like a cross between a 90’s rock star and someone not to be messed with. Levi was forever grateful for the late 80’s and early 90’s fashion for that, it was hard trying to look both intimidating and attractive in the 1800’s. He cringed remembering the dirty shirts and vests.

“What’s up dude, it’s been a while.” The giggling voice greeted him when Levi crossed the street and came close enough to see his sandy messy hair and horrible complexion, which only made his unsymmetrical face features even more distinct. The man reached for a handshake.

“Hey.” Levi replied simply, keeping his hands in his pockets. There was no way in hell he was going to touch him.

The hand fell back to the man’s side a bit awkwardly and slight tension settled in between them.

“So, I don’t know if you’ve heard,” the man started in a hushed tone “but we’ve been getting in some new stuff lately, it’s the fucking bomb dude!” he exclaimed shakily, his entire frame was shaking a little. Whatever this new bomb was, it was clear that he was on it.

“Works for me.” Levi shrugged. He just wanted his stuff already.

“Awesome dude awesome.” He nodded his head a bit too enthusiastically. “So the usual amount, uh, what was your name again?” He asked. Levi huffed annoyed.

“It’s- Larry.” He said in a defeated tone. The man scrambled in his back pocket before taking out a small plastic bag with his drug inside. Levi was reaching out to take it when the dealer suddenly drew back his hand.

“Like I said Larry, it’s a new product, a whole new type of breed of this shit.” His eyes were a bit crazed just like Ymir’s was nights ago “So it’s a bit pricier, but I’m sure a man like yourself will have no problem with it.” He watched carefully to see how Levi would react. Fucking shithead.

“How much?”

“It’s up to 300, but as our old time client I can cut it down for you to 275.” He was smiling and making it seem like he was offering him the deal of the week. Levi didn’t have that sort of money, he patted his back pocket and realized he had no money at all. All of it was left in his other pants.

“This isn’t what we agreed.” Levi stated calmly looking into his saggy brown eyes. It was enough to slightly intimidate him.

“I realize that, but what I’m offering you now is real high class shit man. You’re not gonna get anything like this in the entire city.” He pressed desperately. Levi raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Is that so? Can I see it up close then?” he asked extending his hand.

“You know the drill Larry, money first.” He said apologetically.

“Don’t you trust me?” Levi asked a bit shocked. “I’m your most loyal client, I’m not going to throw stupid stunts now.” He reassured him. The guy hesitated for a moment before giving him the bag.

“Hm… it doesn’t look any different.” Levi said disappointed after inspecting it.

“It is, man, it is!” the dealer was quick to contradict.

“Either way, I don’t feel like paying today.” Levi concluded, putting the bag in his jacket pocket.

“What the fuck dude, this ain’t something you borrow.” His twisted face features turned into an angry frown. “Quit screwing around and spill it.” He threatened. Levi meanwhile looked like he was growing bored of him.

“Nah.”

“Then give back the product you fuck!”

The dealer went up close and tried to take the bag out of his jacket, Levi pushed him away with one simple shove and turned to walk away. The man caught up with him after a short moment though, turned him around by his arm and served a punch to his stomach. Levi however didn’t move an inch after the hit, his eye merely twitched in annoyance because it was the second punch he received today.

The dealer stared dumbly at his hand, not understanding what had happened to it, while Levi took the liberty of taking hold of his dirtied shirt collar and shoving him against the wall. The vampire heard one of his bones crack from the impact. The man’s face was even more twisted than usual, this time in fear. Levi got up an close to his large nose and disgustingly big mouth, before letting his eyes turn white for a split second and dropping his now former dealer on the ground.

The man was shaking and scrambling to get up before nearly running away. Levi scrunched up his nose in disgust while staring at his hand, he hated coming into contact with junkies.

He hurried to Erwin’s place which was not far from there, partly because he wanted to get the conversation over with, mostly because he could use his bathroom to wash his hands from the junkie stink.

The moment the heavy oak doors opened to Erwin’s small apartment, Levi went inside without as much as a hello.

“Nice to see you too, Levi.” He heard him call while Levi was rinsing his hands.

“It was an emergency.” He explained coming out of the bathroom. Erwin stood there in the hallway, arms folded and a piercing expression on his face which hadn’t lost its intensity in the last 2 centuries. His blond hair was combed back neatly, nicely framing his strong and defined face features which were often composed in a soft and reassuring expression. Even after all this time Levi felt slightly intimidated by the fact that he was a head taller than him, not to mention twice his size. The white shirt he was wearing wasn’t doing his torso and arms any justice as he knew what was hiding under there. Oh Levi knew quite well.

“The hand washing or whatever happened with Ymir’s group?” Erwin asked leading him to the kitchen.

“You already know about that?” he asked taking a seat at the table. His kitchen was even smaller than his, but everything was new in it, making it seem like one of those ads for one room apartments in the magazine.

“I just know they’re not happy and they’re expecting some kind of compensation.” Erwin shot him a look to explain what happened.

“I made a rushed decision and saved a kid they were about to kill.” Levi stated simply. Erwin looked shocked.

“You saved someone? Why?”

“Wow, I actually do something good for a human being and you’re asking me for the reasoning?” Levi shot back sarcastically. “He just didn’t deserve to die, not at that particular moment at least.” Levi sighed.

“Did you know him?” Erwin frowned because all of this sounded unbelievable.

“I talked to him for a minute in Hanji’s bar that’s all.” Levi shrugged. “I told Ymir and the others that he was a junkie, but I guess eventually she saw that it was bullshit.”

“Well it’s the 21st century and the kid’s a writer, so yeah it was easy for them to find out.” Erwin nodded. “Did the kid see anything though?”

“Don’t think so. He remembered the encounter, but nothing specific about it.” Levi brushed it off but Erwin’s face tensed up.

“Levi we can’t bet this on ‘don’t think so’. You know our policy about exposure.” He said seriously. Levi briefly remembered his dealer, but half a second could barely be counted as exposure. Besides, no one would believe him.

“Yeah I do. Don’t worry, if he does remember, I’ll gladly kill him myself.” Levi said like he’d be relieved to do this task.

“I hope it doesn’t come down to that.” Erwin said leaning back against the kitchen counter and taking a steaming cup in his hand. “Now we have to figure out wha-“

“Please don’t tell me that’s warm blood.” Levi said closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“What? Oh this?” Erwin lifted the cup. “Yeah, Hanji taught me how to do it, it’s surprisingly tasty.” He said with a smile.

“Oh god.” Levi sighed in defeat. “Don’t tell me she’s also planning to open a night Starbucks for vamps.” He rolled his eyes.

“You haven’t even tried it.” Erwin shot him an all-knowing look. “Anyway Levi, I’m proud of what you did.” Erwin’s face softened. Levi’s face remained indifferent, but he turned his head away nonetheless.

“Well I’m not, the kid fucked everything up.” Levi returned bitterly.

“It was you that made the move Levi.” Erwin pointed out calmly. “Are you that unwilling to admit that you care?”

“Oh can we not do this?” Levi talked on top of Erwin in a pleading tone. “Fine. I screwed up. We don’t have to make it into some unnecessarily deep subconscious movement.”

Erwin simply sipped his blood. His white eyes actually went really well with his hair. Levi remembered how a century back he thought it was the hottest thing ever.

“How long are you going to keep punishing yourself Levi?” Erwin spoke ignoring Levi’s comment. “Until she dies?”

“And how long did you punish yourself even after your family died?” Levi bit back squinting his eyes. He regretted the words as soon as they had left him. It was too far, even for him. Erwin’s gaze remained the same though. His eyes turned back to their natural warm brown color. “Sorry.” he hushed under his breath quietly as the silence settled in. 

“I think I have a few bags of AB- in storage that I can get my hands on. It should be enough for Ymir.” Erwin said seriously like he was talking to a business associate rather than a friend.

“I don’t think she’s going to accept it. You know how she’s like with bagged blood. She calls you guys vegan.” Levi explained not daring to look at Erwin.

“Even Ymir isn’t going to say no to AB-.” Erwin sounded as confident as ever and Levi didn’t question him. Erwin was the leader of their group after all and it was extremely rare for his gut instinct to be wrong.

“Thank you.” Levi said almost humbly while getting up.

“I’ll walk you out.” Erwin suggested setting down his cup and walking behind Levi.

Levi had just turned around when he felt hands on his sides which quickly traveled into his pockets.

“Hey what the fuck?” Levi turned around outraged. Erwin however was standing there with an angry frown on his face and the bag of cocaine in his hand.

“Your hand was slightly twitching the entire time.” Erwin explained Levi’s unanswered question. “I thought we agreed you’re going to quit for good.” Erwin raised his voice in anger.

“What’s the big fucking deal if I don’t?” Levi asked heatedly. “Have I got a nice reputation to keep? Should I be worried about ruining my precious fucking future? Erwin we don’t have a future, we don’t have anything to look forward to, we are literally stuck in time.” Levi ranted. He had no fucking idea where all of this came from, was it because he was craving his drug? Either way the words kept pouring out “So what difference does it make if I drink my blood with a kick? The answer is there is no difference. Like there’s no difference if I kill people or drink blood out of a bag. People are still going to die even without me.” Levi took a few deep breaths as Erwin stood there unmoving waiting for him to finish “If being immortal has taught me anything is that the longer you live, the less your actions actually matter.”

Levi didn’t wait for Erwin to reply, nor did he fight back for the bag of coke. He could probably take Erwin down in a fight, but he definitely wasn’t up for it. 

“You _can_ make a difference Levi.” Erwin called after him. “You already made one in Eren’s life.” Levi managed to catch the words as he was closing the door behind him.

Half of Levi’s frustration faded away on the walk back home. Now most of all he felt stupid for not fighting for his coke and scaring off his dealer. It was going to be a pain to find a good source now. Levi was daydreaming, no nightdreaming about his soft bed again. It was nearly 4am and he was getting drowsy. Nights like these were rare, when more than two things piled up for one night, most of all it was tiring.

Hanji was already home when Levi got back. She looked pretty beat as well, must’ve been a heavy night at the bar. Either way she still smiled, greeted Levi and ranted about her day. Levi tuned most of it out as she followed him into his room and still didn’t stop blubbering while he was on his laptop. Levi opened up his notebook again and flipped the pages to the very back where the last names were written. He had a rule, one name got crossed out and another was added.

There was a blog that Levi visited to get the names. The blog was run by some fresh out of college writer wannabe, who often put up stories about criminals who were never sentenced. By publishing their crimes on the internet the writer felt like he was doing justice, by at least exposing their crimes to the public eye. Levi thought that was about the dumbest thing to do with your life, but he didn’t particularly care, as long as he could read about the crimes and get the names of the assholes.

Levi scrolled through the blog to the latest post which was a bit longer than usual. He sighed as he skimmed through it searching for the juicy bits. Though, his eyes caught up on something strange, so he slowed down to read.

_But dangers lurk everywhere. Sometimes a friendly gesture can be more traitorous than a dark shadow. I never thought that I would have to come face to face with the things I write about. Perhaps because none of us think they are going to become the subjects of the real life horror stories. Silently we wish it would happen to someone else rather than yourself, right up until the point when it happens._

Levi skipped through another few paragraphs vaguely describing crimes and probability to the part which caught his eye.

_I didn’t realize the danger I was in until the next morning. It was very unlikely I would have realized it at all if Levi hadn’t explained it to me. For that I solely blame alcohol. But now I can see it clearly in my head, even though it still feels like it didn’t actually happen to me, that it was some news story I was replaying in my head. However Ymir’s sugar sweet voice of calling me to her like I was a dog still echoes in my head and the reality of it hits back, demanding to be remembered._

_Vague memories come back to me, where Ymir’s almost animalistic nature spills through when Levi confronts her. I remember nothing of the words shared between them, only the heavy tension radiating through their eyes, which seemed to flicker white like a lightning bolt. Levi stood there bravely however, even when Ymir refused to stand down and kept spitting out the words in a tone almost as sharp as her teeth._

“Fuck.” Levi cursed under his breath not bothering to read the rest of it.

“What?” Hanji stopped her rambling noting Levi’s wide eyed expression.

“That fucking dick!” he yelled getting up from his seat and storming across his room. Hanji frowned and turned her head to the laptop’s screen. Her smile dropped as she skimmed through the text.

“Shit.” She whispered under her breath as Levi kicked over the chair by the table.


	3. The Dead Next Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna start moving along with the Eren business and Levi being a bit of a drama queen. enjoy.

“Get it down.” Levi hissed into the phone, his breathing was harsh and angry.

“Wh-what?” a sleepy voice slurred at the other end.

“Get. It. The fuck. Down.” Levi pronounced each word slowly and clearly, feeling like he was talking to a retard.

“Ge-get down- what?”

“Get down and fucking boogie.” Levi rolled his eyes as he spat out “Your stupid blog post idiot, take it down!” Levi nearly screamed. He felt Hanji’s hand on his shoulder trying to calm him, but he shook it off violently.

“Who is this?” Eren asked in a slightly clearer tone.

“It’s your mighty fucking savior.”

“Who-?”

“It’s Levi.” He sighed. This kid was hopeless. Levi was too tired and too sober to be dealing with this. Was Eren trying to make saving his life into a fucking sport by adding Levi’s life on the line as well?

“Levi? Uhm, how did you get my number?” he asked with a hint of accusation in his tone.

“Because I’m just that fucking smart. Now quit yapping, get your ass up and delete your last post.” Levi was breathing deeply trying to calm down.

“Why?” Eren asked confused.

“Why? Are you seriously that fucking thick? Were you dropped on your head as a baby? You just published the names of the people who tried to kill you. If it took me less than 5 minutes to get your phone number, how fast do you think it’ll take them to find out where you live?” he spoke as if he was talking to a child. “You are not going to only get yourself killed, but worst of all you’re going to take me down with you!”Levi exploded again.

Eren stayed quiet on the other end, Levi realized he couldn’t even hear him properly because of his own breathing.

“What are the chances of them even seeing it?” Eren asked rhetorically and too calmly for Levi’s liking. “Fine, I’ll take it down in the morning, just stop yelling.”

“No, no, no, not in the morning, take it down _now_.” Levi pressed. He didn’t realize when Hanji quietly led him to sit on the bed.

“Levi, they’re not going to see it now, criminals or not they’re still probably sleeping, y’know, like normal people do.” Eren was almost fully awake and getting frustrated as well “So a few hours aren’t going to make-“

“Take it down asshole!” Levi yelled and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Fine!” Eren yelled back and hung up. Levi refused the urge to throw his phone across the room and just put his head in his hands. Why didn’t he just walk away? He had done it before, turning a blind eye came naturally to him, why the fuck did he have to get involved?

“It’s gone.” Hanji broke the silence a few minutes later, staring at the laptop screen. “The post had been up there for 2 days.” Hanji commented. There was no need for her or Levi to say anything else. They were both thinking the same thing. There was almost little to no chance that Ymir’s group hadn’t seen it yet.

“Well this is going to be interesting.” Hanji said turning in the chair to face Levi while placing the tips of her fingers together in front of her. She raised an eyebrow trying to make either a suggestive or evil face, Levi couldn’t tell. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

Levi simply lifted his head and looked at her with a stone cold face.

“Interesting? So the possibility that I might die is fucking entertaining?” his face did nothing to scare Hanji though, guess it worked only on humans.

“It’s a shame we don’t have a cat, you know, a black one that would sit on my lap for dramatic effect.” She yapped on not hearing him.

“So I’m going to die and you’re thinking of getting a cat, alright.” Levi nodded to himself.

“Oh! Or maybe a white one instead, one that would look adorable, but could scratch you right up if you got too close.” Hanji kept daydreaming.

“You’re allergic to cats Hanji.” Levi deadpanned.

“Wow, way to ruin my dream Levi.” She finally turned her attention to him. “So maybe I should get a dog, no a wolf! That would have this rich white fur and have fierce red eyes.”

“So basically you’re saying you want Jon Snow’s pet direwolf?”

“What? Who’s Jon Snow?”

“He’s- just never mind. Can we get back to the problem which is my imminent death?” Levi sighed tiredly.

“Geez Levi calm down.” This time it was Hanji who rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna go call Erwin and we’ll solve this, you’re getting too worked up about it.” She shrugged “We’ve dealt with more serious things than this, well at least you have for sure. So come on and look at it this way, this is the most exciting, adventure filled thing that has happened to us in like a decade.” Her eyes were twinkling with excitement and energy, like of a crazy person.

Levi merely huffed under his breath and said nothing. Hanji was always a goof ball looking for fun and adventure in everything. She didn’t feel burdened with the weight of immortality, more like blessed, because she had the ability to experience everything now. Levi still thought she had the mentality of a 7 year old, nonetheless it was hard not getting infected by her optimism. Not that Levi would ever let her know of this.

Hanji didn’t even need to call Erwin as the phone buzzed moments after.  Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal blasted through the apartment as Hanji hurried to get her phone, nearly tripping on her way.

“Eren, the kid Levi saved, posted a blog entry about that night.” Levi could hear Erwin pour everything out quickly like a machine, he sounded breathless “Ymir’s and Levi’s names are there, we need to-“

“It’s alright, we saw it and made him take it down.” Hanji spoke over Erwin.

“Okay, good work. I’m sorry, I should have made a background check on him sooner.” Erwin was taking the guilt and responsibility for what happened as usual.

“Don’t beat yourself over it, you couldn’t have known.” Hanji reassured quickly. “Do you have any idea if Ymir saw this yet?” she asked excitedly.

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard from them so I guess it’s a good sign, perhaps we slipped through.” Erwin took a deeper breath. “But we don’t know for sure. For now we have to assume that they did see it and that we need to protect ourselves, but most of all Levi and Eren.” Hanji nodded seriously at the instructions, it seemed like this was one big game to her.

“Protect Eren?” Levi piped up knowing quite well that Erwin can hear him “Unless that is code for ‘kill and bury somewhere far away’ I’m not following you.” he crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall.

“No Levi, we’re not gonna let this kid die.” Erwin said firmly. Hanji nodded in agreement while shooting Levi a glare.

“What about our precious policy? We were exposed, he saw us.” Levi argued. “He’s a threat to us.” Erwin never had any problem dealing with people who saw them for who they were, even if he didn’t like it. It was for their survival. That was why there were no new vampire hunters for decades, because anyone who got even a glimpse was already dead.

“I don’t think he realizes what he saw. For now we have to focus on the fact that yours and Ymir’s names were published somewhere, then we can deal with the exposure.” Erwin sounded as confident as ever, but even Levi started questioning his judgment.

“I don’t see how that would make sense. If we just get rid of him, the problems will be solved.” Levi shrugged.

“So you’re saying we should kill him because he may or may not have seen something?” Hanji asked slightly outraged.

“That hadn’t stopped us before.” Levi returned calmly.

“No Levi, this is different.” Erwin replied firmly, not leaving room for arguments. “You saw something in that kid that night, it made you save him.” Levi couldn’t help but roll his eyes “After all the trouble you went through to save him you’re saying he deserves to die _now_?”

“He endangered us all with that post.” Levi stated simply.

“He was just doing his job.” Hanji replied haughtily.

“Levi, it’s two against one.” Erwin said finally. Levi clenched his jaw but remained silent.

“Alright so how do we do this? Take turns to watch over the kid?” Hanji asked squinting her eyes while thinking of the possibilities. Levi sort of wanted to leave the room already. Fine, the kid can live and they can protect him all they want, but he didn’t see how that involved him.

“I doubt that would work, you got your job at the bar and I have my night’s shift at the hospital and we need to sleep sometime.” Erwin thought out loud.

“So Levi could do it!” Hanji piped up excitedly and wiggled her eyebrows at him.

“No fucking way.” Levi’s eyes went wide.

“No, of course not.” Erwin contradicted “Levi needs to stay undercover and under protection just as much as Eren, he would be easy bait if he were to take that role.” Erwin took a deep breath “I guess there’s no choice then, we’ll have to talk with Eren in person and explain everything to him.”

“Are you seriously thinking of exposing us to him? Yeah I can already see how that would go.” Levi dropped sarcastically.

“We’d have to come up with an alternative story to convince him.” Erwin said thoughtfully.

“Jinkies that’s going to be a tough one.” Hanji shook her head slightly.

“Well… we sort of already have an alternative story.” Levi said quietly after a moment.

…

 Levi was already regretting opening his mouth. He felt naïve for thinking earlier that forcing Eren out of his apartment was going to be the end, a swift ending to a fucked up story and he could live on forgetting this kid even existed. Of course the kid had to go ahead and ruin it for him. Levi had said this before, the universe just liked to lean back and laugh at his life sometimes.

A stifled yawn broke through and Levi rubbed his eyes while walking along side Erwin down the street. He wished to be back in bed, 6 hours of sleep were far from enough for him. Instead, for some reason Erwin asked him to come along to meet with Eren.

They had arranged to meet around 10am in a sandwich shop. Eren picked a public place to meet with almost complete strangers. That was by far the only good decision that he had made in the past few days, Levi thought bitterly.

Thankfully for both of them, it was a cloudy day. They still had to cover themselves up as much as possible. It was one of those rare times when Erwin was forced to wear a hoodie, which Levi personally found a bit hilarious.

Erwin always liked to be well dressed and well mannered, he believed appearances were an important part of everyday life. His shirts were always ironed and never missed a button, his pants were never too tight or too loose, but just right, his shoes always stayed polished. Even his casual clothes looked almost pretentiously classy. Levi asked once whether he changed his style to fit in with everyone in the 70’s or 80’s, but Erwin quickly changed the subject and avoided talking about those years at all. Levi didn’t press the obviously touchy subject anymore because the faint scar on his ear indicating it was pierced spoke for itself.

They reached a small, yet modern shop named Alidoro. From the clean full height windows Levi could see the small space crammed with as much things as possible. He scrunched up his nose, he never liked messy places. The walls were covered in pictures, posters, even a few flyers, there were flowers pots, bouquets, some fake some real on every corner, hanging from the ceiling or some on the walls. The shelves on one side were crammed with fancy plates and bottles, tea cups and silly useless souvenir things. There was a large white bookshelf on the other side filled with books about Italian cities which explained why the walls were covered in Italian posters and pictures with Italian city names on them. There were only two tables there as this was more of a takeaway sort of place.

There were only two people there when Erwin and Levi entered, waiting for a takeaway. Both of the tables were empty, so the vampires took the one further away from the window and closer to the bar. Eren was nowhere to be seen. The lack of punctuation didn’t add any points to Levi disliking him any less.

“Eren should’ve been here by now.” Erwin thought out loud, looking through the window outside.

“Maybe he had to take a massive dump.” Levi returned. Erwin simply shot him a short look for the language and continued looking out the window. “I’m not questioning your judgment for taking me along with you, you probably have a good reason for that.” Levi began “But the kid and I didn’t exactly part on good terms last night, so if he sees me here too, he could bail on us.”

“If he’s smart, he won’t.” Erwin said firmly.

“Then we’re wasting our time here.” Levi dropped. The shorter vampire was seated facing the bar, he couldn’t help but frown in disgust as he saw the middle aged woman take her large chicken sandwich. He wondered if he would actually enjoy it if he still liked human food.

“Try to behave yourself this time Levi.” Erwin stated like a parent talking to a disobedient child.

The cashier finally noticed them, but he had his hands full with the next customer so the dark haired, freckled kid called into the back for someone else to take their order. Levi hoped that Erwin actually had money to pay for whatever they’re going to order. Some kid with a red cap covering his brown thick hair came out from the back, his posture was unsure and slouched. When he lifted his head, he revealed a set of very green and very tired eyes looking at the two of them not quite believing what he was seeing, and then Levi started laughing.

It was the sort of laugh that bursts out of your mouth because you can’t hold it in another second longer. Levi got his control back a few seconds after, but his insides were still tickling with the aftermaths and he kept chuckling quietly, while Eren was looking at him like he was a mental patient. Levi coughed and straightened himself up when he felt Erwin kick him harshly under the table.

“I’m so sorry.” Erwin mumbled apologetically motioning to Levi while getting up from his seat “You must be Eren, I’m Erwin, we spoke on the phone.” Erwin introduced himself politely, extending his hand for Eren to shake. He hesitantly did so while staring at the two of them suspiciously.

“Please take a seat with us, we won’t take up much of your time.” Erwin pleaded. Eren took a seat on the third chair at their tiny round table and faced them both. Erwin was composing himself to explain everything while Levi had his mouth covered to sustain his chuckles.

“Yeah, we understand how busy a writer’s schedule can be.” Levi added in a serious tone. “Tell me, do you wrap the sandwiches with pieces of your published stories or do you go with regular paper because it’s cheaper?” Levi asked crossing his legs and leaning back on the chair. Eren looked almost outraged, yet Levi could smell blood travel to the tips of his ears before they started growing red.

“Levi.” Erwin turned to him with an angry glare.

“What, the kid can ruin my life, but I can’t make fun of him even a little?” Levi asked playfully before he saw the grim look on Erwin’s face “sorry.” He mumbled under his breath, purely for the sake of his group’s leader.

“Eren, we want to talk to you about this situation that we’ve gotten ourselves in.” Erwin started off. “We are not blaming you for posting that blog post, you couldn’t have known.” Levi scoffed under his breath and Erwin gave him another kick under the table. Eren wasn’t blind or deaf though, he turned to Levi with a bitter look.

“I have the right to write about what I want.” He raised his head proudly “Freedom of speech and all that shit.”

“I agree.” Erwin said quickly before Levi had the chance to open his mouth. “And if this weren’t a matter of life and death we wouldn’t be bothering you today. Do you understand why your post endangered us?”

“I can see why human traffickers wouldn’t want their names floating around the internet with their crime being explained in detail.” Eren nodded trying to ignore Levi’s presence “What I don’t understand is why would they check my blog? Isn’t this a bit too farfetched?”

“Eren, these people are professionals, they’ve been doing this for many years. You were spared by a miracle.” Eren threw a hesitant glance towards Levi “That doesn’t happen often to them, so if you were them, wouldn’t you track someone who saw everything, at least for a while? See if they keep their mouth shut?” Erwin asked softly. The realization dawning on Eren was almost instant.

“There’s a strange black car that I see every time I go home from work.” Eren quietly said looking down at the table “It parks by this house that I know is empty and stays there the entire night.” Levi frowned confused, but didn’t say anything. The car thing was most likely unrelated, Ymir wouldn’t stalk someone so obviously. Either way, it was safer letting Eren believe this. It was a good thing Hanji wasn’t here too, she’d shit her pants out of the excitement.

“You see, you’re putting the pieces together already by yourself.” Erwin said almost appraisingly. He had that ability to be very persuasive. That was perhaps the softest word to describe manipulation.

“Alright so, what do we do now?” Eren asked in a slightly frightened tone. He was looking at Erwin like he was expecting instructions. Levi leaned slightly forward as well because he had no idea what Erwin was planning on doing.

“First things first, we have to keep you and Levi safe for at least a few weeks.” Erwin said urgently.

“I can get new locks, or live with a friend for that time.” Eren suggested, but Erwin merely shook his head.

“That won’t work, it isn’t going to stop them. You need someone to look over you.”

“Then we can always go to the police!” Eren’s face brightened up “We’ll explain what happened and I could get a few officers to watch over me or something.” Eren was as naïve as ever.

“We can’t go to the police Eren.” Erwin shook his head.

“Why not?” Eren asked frowning, a hint of suspicion on his face.

“We have no physical proof Eren, it’s just your word against theirs, and remember that you were intoxicated that night, which gives even less credibility to your story.” Erwin explained with an apologetic face. “And even if we do get involved and somehow make them believe this story, it’s going to take time on their part, time we don’t have, time that will allow Ymir to find out about this and take action immediately.” Eren’s face fell as Erwin spoke.

“Wouldn’t it go faster if you guys backed me up? You know them after all!” Eren piped up still not wanting to give up. Levi flickered a quick look to Erwin. He didn’t expect Eren to be so thorough and think everything through like that. By the looks of it, neither did Erwin.

“Even if we do, investigations still take time. This isn’t going to be their top priority Eren.” Erwin quickly shot back.

The freckled kid across the bar was shooting them looks. They were talking quietly, but Eren’s been on break for a while now and more people were coming in as noon was coming closer.

“So what do we do then?” Eren’s face was completely hopeless, he fired his last shot.

“I have an idea.” Erwin said and frowned slightly “You’re probably not going to like it, but I believe that temporarily we are the people best suited to protect you. We know these people, we can actually reason with them, and you and Levi would be under joint protection, which would be safer.” Erwin explained. The look on Eren’s face screamed complete confusion while the one on Levi’s was pure realization.

“Erwin, you can’t be thinking of-“ Levi started urgently.

“I am.” He stated seriously “It’s our best shot to keep you both alive.”

“What is?” Eren piped up confused.

“Oh god no.” Levi put his head in his hands “I didn’t agree to live with this kid for two weeks Erwin, are you insane?” Levi asked outraged.

“You want us to live together?” Eren frowned confused not getting it.

“Sort of. You can’t stay at your home Eren, that’s for sure. My suggestion would be for you to move in with Levi temporarily until this blows over, so we can keep an eye on both of you. It’s up to you to decide Eren, I realize this is a lot, but I wouldn’t be coming up with these drastic measures if you weren’t really in danger.”

“Erwin, did you think this through properly?” Levi asked carefully, he was raging inside, but he didn’t want to yell at him again, he actually respected Erwin.  But this was over the top, completely. It was over the empire state building kind of top. If Eren actually came to live with them, exposure would be unavoidable.

“Whoa uhm-“ Eren put up his hands and leaned back defensively. “I trust you enough to believe what you’re telling me, but this is a bit too much, there has to be another way.” Eren frowned.

Levi sighed slightly and begged that this kid would actually be smart enough to not come live with them and completely ruin his life.

“I understand how you feel, it’s perfectly alright that you’re having doubts” Erwin nodded. “You can think about it, but keep in mind that time isn’t something that we can waste.”

“I’m sorry guys, but I’m gonna have to say no.” Eren shook his head with a frown. “I’ll try to think of better ways to deal with this, I’ll call you after work to discuss them.” He said confidently like he was absolutely sure he was going to come up with something. Levi knew better though. Erwin had told the perfect excuses and reasons why any other plan would backfire on him. But the determination in Eren’s eyes made Levi doubt that for some reason. Hopefully for both of them, maybe Eren will come up with something better. _I’m counting on you, kid_ , Levi thought quietly.  

“Alright, it’s a deal.” Erwin said with a smile while standing up. It seemed that he was impressed by Eren’s sheer determination as well. “But just in case, here’s a card with my and Levi’s numbers on it, as well as the address in case you change your mind.” Erwin handed him a simple card with his neat handwriting on it and shook Eren’s hand as politely as ever. “I don’t want to keep you from work any longer, we’ll talk later.” Erwin waved as Eren nodded back at him with a small smile. Levi simply got up and left the shop like he hadn’t even seen Eren there.

“Erwin this has got to be the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.” Levi couldn’t help but say once they left the now crowded shop.

Levi’s skin was irritated and slightly red for being outside for so long, so it was a relief to come back to a pitch dark apartment. He could barely bring himself to hate Erwin because of the decision to make him and Eren bunk buddies. It seemed that in the past days all he could really think about was getting sleep. He flopped down on his bed and listened to Hanji’s light snores from the other room. It was sort of calming in a way. Calming enough to lull him to sleep and calming enough to make him forget Erwin’s stupid plan and the fact that he wished that kid would survive this somehow.

…

It seemed that he woke up as soon as he closed his eyes by the sound of Hanji’s loud voice, which was the exact opposite of calming right now. She was talking on the phone with Erwin. It was two doors away, and while he could hear Hanji perfectly, his sensitive hearing couldn’t reach Erwin’s voice.

“Oh fudge, how are we going to convince Eren then?” Hanji asked concerned. The only thing she was truly concerned about though was the adventure coming to an abrupt end.

“I don’t know if he’ll just come round like that.” Hanji said more quietly. “How about Levi? How did they get along?” Hanji asked curiously and Levi wanted to groan into the pillow. “Wh- he _laughed_? Levi? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person here?” Levi turned around to his other side annoyed, what was the big fucking deal. “I don’t think I’ve heard him properly laugh in these decades.” Hanji said quietly in disbelief. “Well yeah, but I mean he was high then, it doesn’t exactly count.” Hanji laughed airily at something Erwin said “Yeah who knew Levi had actual feelings.”

“I can hear you dipshit.” Levi said in a sleepy voice.

“Morning sleepy.” Hanji greeted cheerfully opening the door to his room after hanging up on Erwin. Levi reluctantly lifted his head to find his phone. It was a little after 9pm.

“Well?” Levi asked looking up at his roommate who was dressed and ready to go as usual.

“Well what?” Hanji was acting dumb. Levi sighed.

“How did it go with Eren?” he sighed defeated. She just wanted him to actually ask. Hanji smiled smugly.

“He talked with Erwin after work just like he promised, but none of his ideas were any good, but he said he was still reluctant to accept Erwin’s idea. He said he’d think about it.” Hanji shrugged. Meanwhile Levi willed himself to get off from his bed.

“This is a nightmare.” Levi whined slightly “I already have one annoying roommate, two would drive me insane.”

“It’s up to Eren now.” Hanji shrugged simply as Levi was looking for a clean towel. “Please don’t kick him out if he ends up showing up.” She pleaded in a quieter tone.

“I won’t promise anything.” He replied bitterly swinging the clean towel over his shoulder.

“Erwin’s doing this for your safety too you know.” Hanji assured “Anyway, I gotta get going.” Levi gave her a half wave as she spun on her heel and marched to the door. Levi knew that Erwin wasn’t doing this to piss him off, even though that was how Levi felt about it. Levi still carried hope that Eren was going to make the right decision and see through their crap, he couldn’t believe he would ever root for this kid.

Levi heard a loud banging on the door as he sighed quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, at least he wasn’t in the shower already. He saw Hanji’s keys on the counter in the hallway and the vampire sighed grabbing them and walking towards the door. If he had a fucking dollar every time that happened, he’d be able to pay off the rent on his own.

Levi swung the door open, but instead of an apologetic Hanji, he was met with two distressed ridiculously green eyes. Eren was standing there with an overnight bag slung over his shoulders, breathing deeply like he had just run away from someone. He blinked twice looking at Levi’s compromising state, momentarily getting stuck on his words. Levi could smell the confusion, his blood didn’t know where to travel first.

“Uhm t-the car followed me to the store and parked closer to my house this time.” Eren mumbled. Levi could smell the fear on him. The kid was petrified.

“Come in.” Levi sighed as he motioned with his head and stepped back.

 


	4. Bloody Wine

Even the tired cashier behind the counter lifted up her head to peek at the late night shopper at their 24/7 grocery store. It seemed he was collecting every bit of food from different aisles and shelves into his shopping basket, and when it didn’t fit anymore, he kept them in his hands. What struck most, however, is that he seemed to angrily shove every food item from its shelf to his basket not really looking at them, and wrinkled his nose at every other product.

God damn right Levi was angry. He was out there shopping after 2 fucking AM, when at this time he should’ve be fucking 2 men. All while the culprit was sleeping soundly in his room, tucked in nice and tight like a burrito.

Eren was almost shaking with fear, and trying very hard not to show it when he entered. Upon seeing Levi’s face, he began to reassure that he’d be staying for only one night, until he found a better solution to this mess. The kid didn’t even throw a single snarky remark. That was how Levi knew the kid was scared shitless. Levi found an inflatable mattress in the closet full of Hanji’s stuff from when she used to go camping. The vampire contemplated setting it up in the hallway but it was slightly too narrow so he had no choice but to set it in the empty corner in his room. The kid barely spoke throughout the time, just kept glancing out the window every few seconds. Levi eventually got sick of it and let down the blinds.

If Levi were truly honest, he thought about shutting the door as soon as he saw Eren. He felt like the kid personally disappointed him by not coming up with anything good. Eren probably knew that, since it was in favor of both of their interests. However, it was their fucking responsibility now to keep this kid alive. In a way, it was Levi’s fault, all of this started because he couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut, but most of all, he would have gotten shit from Erwin big time.

As much as Levi roamed about life caring about himself and only himself, he respected Erwin as a person. He owed him his life, not to mention Erwin had never given up on him despite The Incident, the drugs and his general lack of purpose and social skills. Hell, he was actually the one who explained to Levi what he had become when he turned. Otherwise, who knew how long it would’ve taken for Levi to figure it all out.

Levi spent almost all of his savings on the food and most of it was just going to waste. It was more of a cover to make them seem human rather than something Eren could eat. Even though the kid said he’d be staying for only one night, the vampire knew he was going to change his mind eventually. Erwin was just _that_ persuasive.

He got back home with three bags of groceries containing bread, flour, milk, basic veggies, butter, eggs, cereal and basically anything else which would give off the vibe that they were normal. Levi experimentally fiddled with an apple in his hand. It was almost unnaturally dark red and so shiny it made it seem like it was made from plastic. Very dimly he remembered devouring dozens of these when he was little and human. He would ditch off work, and steal them from his neighbors’ tree because he had the sweetest apples. You could see every shade of red and green on them. Levi would bite down only after seeing that there weren’t any worm holes on it, and he would pick the biggest and tastiest looking apple to bring back home to his little sister. That is, if he didn’t get caught in the process.

Levi took an experimental bite from the side and chewed a bit, but as expected he spit the bite out in the trashcan moments after. It tasted rotten, like it had been sitting out there for weeks, every fiber of his body was screaming to get the bite out of his system as quickly as possible. The vampire remembered one of the first times he tried human food after he turned and made the mistake of swallowing it. He felt sick for days on.

His phone buzzed as a text from Hanji arrived. All it contained was about 7 exclamation marks, which was the response to either Eren coming over or the fact the she forgot her keys again. Probably both. Though, the text that followed shortly afterwards asked him to bring her keys to her, since she needed them to lock up the bar. Levi sighed slightly annoyed, but the good thing was that he might be able to hook up for a quickie or something. The vampire craved some kind of relief and release from all the shit that was going on, and since drugs were out of his hands for now, this would just have to do.

Eren’s quiet and even breathing reached Levi’s sensitive ears as he quietly snuck out of the apartment again. It was a Friday night so the bar was filled with more people than usual. Hanji was across the bar doing the best she could to serve everyone all while keeping a polite smile on her face. Though the smile wasn’t fake, Levi knew she genuinely enjoyed the busyness.

As soon as she saw Levi, Hanji hopped to his side with her usual apologetic face as her roommate handed her the keys.

“So what happened with Eren? Why did he suddenly come over?” Hanji asked excitedly “Oh wait, you want a drink?” she asked quickly while handing someone else a beer.

“Yeah actually, I haven’t had any in more than a day.” Levi suddenly realized where the lack of energy came from. Hanji went off to the other side to get him his drink while Levi kept on talking “He showed up a few minutes after you left, said some CIA looking car kept following him today and he got scared.”

“Aw, that’s so cute!” Hanji gushed over while handing Levi his glass of wine. “Oh this is so mysterious. Why is a car following Eren? This is like the beginning of a CSI episode.” Hanji was smiling wide as her eyes twinkled with excitement.

“No it’s not.” Levi frowned “Someone has to die for it to be a CSI episode, and isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid?”

“Well we’re already kind of dead, so it counts!” Hanji argued back shaking up a cocktail.

“It’s not the same. CSI isn’t about the supernatural.” Levi rolled his eyes “And could you keep your voice down?” Levi hushed her with and angry frown since she was running her mouth too loudly.

“Oh right.” Hanji’s face became thoughtful. “Oh! Then it’s like Buffy!”

“Then we’d be the bad guys, idiot.”

“But Ymir’s group _are_ the bad guys!” Hanji suddenly gasped “Oh my god you’re Angel!”

“What? I’m anything but Angel.” Levi frowned in disgust.

“So is Erwin Angel then?” Hanji frowned.

“Erwi- No god. No one is Angel. Who would even want to be that dick?” Levi shook his head as he took a sip and closed his eyes. It was a rich taste, something rarer than usual, or Levi was just that hungry.

“Yeah you’re right.” Hanji nodded seriously while squinting at him. “You’re more like Spike.”

“Fine, I can work with that.” Levi gave up.

“What if Eren turns out to be a slayer?” Hanji rambled on with wide eyes, not hearing him. “And he’s like just playing this scared kid who needs help, but he’s actually undercover and wants to kill us.” Hanji was at the other end of the bar rambling on, but Levi could hear her perfectly.

Some drunk guy at the end where Hanji was had the nerve to start catcalling on her. He was listening to what Hanji was talking about and dropped a line. Levi didn’t really hear what he said, only that there were the words ‘body layer’. Whatever the context, that wasn’t even a clever line. Hanji merely smiled politely in response like she was supposed to and handed him another beer.

“Oh sorry I wasn’t talking to you.” Hanji said off-handedly to him.

“So who were you talking to, hun?” he asked cheekily while bending forward over the bar.

“M-my brother.” She stuttered slightly, but kept on smiling nonetheless as she motioned to Levi’s side. The guy leaned back once he caught Levi’s famous ‘I’ll murder you in your sleep’ face.

“It’s like we weren’t even watching the same show.” Levi continued rolling his eyes “Only women can become slayers.”

“What if I become the slayer?” Hanji suddenly said slightly squinting her eyes as if she had found a purpose in life. “Huh where did that guy go? He was just talking to me.” She looked around confused. She was back at Levi’s side.

“Didn’t see him.” Levi shrugged “That makes even less sense, you’d have to kill yourself then.”All the while they were talking Levi had been scanning the place for prey. There were a few people who caught his eye, but nothing special, he was thinking of giving up on it for tonight.

“Oh, but it would be so dramatic! Just think about it: a slayer becoming a vampire or a vampire who discovers that she’s a slayer.” Hanji was absolutely beaming. If she were alive and human, she might have had a shot at becoming an actress or a writer, or a crazy fan.

“You’ve got some fucked up dreams.” Levi returned. “Anyway I don’t see anything good today, I’m gonna take off.” Levi announced as he took the last sip of his drink and left the bar without waiting for Hanji to say goodbye.

He let the door behind him swing shut and decided on dragging his feet to the apartment as slow as possible when normally he hurried home after a night like this. Levi was just leaving the alley when this tall, lean guy with jet black, gel slick hair and a permanent smirk on his face approached him. He was wearing a simple dark green tee and dark jeans which were hugging around his waist tightly.

“Hey.” Was all he said with a slight nod. The way he leaning on the wall and his posture was saying much more though. Levi stayed quiet, looked him up and down while thinking it over in his head. Well he had had worse than him so fuck it.

“Okay.” Levi said as the guy nodded to himself again with a smile. It was the answer to an unspoken question which both of them understood.

“Yeah alright. Okay so this is how it’s gonna go.” The guy slurred with a devilish smirk on his face while coming closer to him. Levi wasn’t interested in hearing him talk though, so he took another two steps forward and wiped off that disgusting looking smirk off his mouth with his own. He had no intention of being gentle or worst of all submissive with this guy. The guy gasped into his mouth from the surprise, but quickly wrapped a hand around Levi’s waist, slipping his hand under his shirt. Levi didn’t enjoy the sensation, the hand seemed too cold, even for him.

“This is the only way that this is going to go.” Levi stated simply but seriously as he drew back from the embrace. The guy was positively trembling near him, all of his previous macho dominant bullshit evaporated just like that. Levi moved in for another attack, and went ahead to start unbuckling his own belt. He had no wish of making this encounter last longer than 10 minutes.

Levi didn’t refuse the temptation of dragging his human teeth over the guys lips too harshly, enough to draw a little blood. Suddenly his senses sharpened and it got more exciting as he slightly sucked the blood out of the wound, being careful not to scrape it with his now extended fangs. The last thing he needed was another newborn vamp in the streets. It wasn’t the sweetest blood, but it was enough to get him excited. It didn’t look like the guy had any idea he was bleeding at all as his moans were escaping his mouth one after another.

It didn’t take long for Levi to get bored of his face and send him down on his knees just like he intended to from the start. The smirking creep was more than glad to take what Levi was offering him. At that point the vampire was glad he had that glass of wine at the bar. It would’ve been embarrassing going through all that and not being able to get it up at the end.

The guy wasn’t much of an expert of going down on guys, he could tell from the way he was wildly and clumsily using his tongue. Nonetheless, it still felt good, especially since it was nearly a week since he had any release. Levi closed his eyes and thumped his head against the wall as he let the other guy do all the work. He would’ve tangled his hand in the guy’s hair for a sort of encouragement, but he was afraid his hand was going to fucking stick to his hair from how much gel there was in it. Levi settled for setting his hand around the side of his neck, brushing along the edge of his jaw with his thumb.

After a few minutes of solid, clumsy dick sucking Levi realized not only wasn’t he getting anywhere near the edge, he was getting bored. It felt nice and all, but that was fucking it. Somewhere at the back of his mind Levi found that he wasn’t really in the mood for this after all, there was just something that wasn’t letting him enjoy this as he should.

Levi shoved the guy off of him as he looked at him surprised.

“Enough.” Was all that he said, getting his pants back up again.

“You wanna go all the way?” the guy asked confused, getting up from the ground.

“No, I’m done for tonight.” Levi explained straightening out his jacket.

“Wh-what do you fucking mean you’re done?!” the guy yelled outraged “I’m not done at all.” He almost pleaded taking Levi’s hand and putting it on his own bulge.

“Too bad.” Levi shook his hand off and started walking away. As expected, the guy grabbed on to him aggressively in return, but this time Levi was prepared, he wasn’t going to get another punch in the stomach. Levi swiftly turned around and shoved him harshly making him fall back on his ass a few meters away. The guy cried out in pain while Levi made his slow and slightly dramatic escape.

It wasn’t particularly late when Levi got home, but he sensed he was going to have to stay awake during the day at least a bit to seem human so a bit of sleep was needed if he was supposed to go through tomorrow without slashing anyone.

He made the effort of being a little quieter when entering his room, since dealing with a sleepy kid just wasn’t on his to do list that day. As Levi got dressed in his simple sweats to sleep in he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He listened and heard that Eren’s breathing wasn’t peaceful or even. Shit he woke up. _Not today kid_ , Levi thought as he simply ignored his presence and got into bed without saying anything.

It took time for Levi to doze off into an uneasy slumber, which was once again disrupted by loud voices. Of course one of them had to belong to Hanji.

“Okay yes that’s it, now bring it forward, forward- watch out for the shelf! Oh god that must’ve hurt.” She winced after another male voice yelped in pain.

“You okay Jean?” Eren’s unmistakable voice asked as something thumped on the ground.

“Yeah yeah. Who the fuck sets up a shelf so low?” Jean muttered under his breath annoyed.

“Are you sure this is alright?” Eren asked in a suspicious tone as that large something was picked up again.

“Yes of course! Our home is your home now.” Hanji reassured. “Okay now keep bringing it forward a bit more and then we’ll try to turn it.”

“Jean stop it! Hold it steady you dumbass.”

“You’re the one who’s shaking it asshole!” Jean replied frustrated.

“What the fuck?” Levi stated more than asked as he opened up his bedroom door. Eren and that long faced friend of his from the bar, Jean, stopped in their tracks while holding up a cream colored couch. Hanji was standing a bit further away directing the whole spectacle.

“Oh thank god you’re up!” Hanji sighed relieved while Eren and Jean were staring at him wide eyed “Open up the door, we’re bringing it in.” she stated and motioned for Eren and Jean to get the couch moving again. They hesitantly started moving their feet towards Levi.

“What the hell are you doing Hanji?” Levi refused to move from his spot. Eren and Jean stopped in their tracks, not daring to approach Levi any closer.

“I’m helping Eren move.” She stated like it was obvious “You can’t expect him to sleep on that mattress for two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Levi raised an eyebrow.

“I changed my mind.” Eren spoke up finally “Uhm, Hanji said it was alright.” He looked at her for validation and Hanji nodded in response.

“Did she now?” Levi glared at his roommate who was staring slightly smugly at him.

“It was actually Erwin’s idea.” She raised her eyebrows “He said we have to make Eren feel as welcome here as possible.” Now she was definitely smirking at him. It was like a personal fuck you shaped liked that couch and served on a plate.

“Whatever, just let me sleep.” Levi gave up opening the door fully and stepping back. Eren and Jean picked up the couch again and started moving it in.

“Jesus Christ it’s 1:30PM you animal.” Jean muttered under his breath while glaring at him.

“What’s horseface doing here?” Levi asked glaring right back at Jean whose face fired up after the insult.

“I’m sorry, do you hear anything Eren?” Jean asked his friend while looking around, pretending not to see Levi “I think someone spoke, but their voice was just too short to reach us.” He dropped while moving into his room slowly.

“So you’re saying you have hearing problems.” Levi stated raising his eyebrows “It must be a tough life, being a partly deaf offspring of a centaur.”

Jean was ready to open his mouth to spit something back, but Eren stopped moving and shoved him a little with the couch “Shut the hell up, Jean.” He scoffed through his teeth.

“Levi’s being a bit of a sourpuss, don’t mind him.” Hanji winked at Eren while standing right outside the room and Eren smiled hesitantly. “You are _so_ Spike.” Hanji mouthed to Levi with an all-knowing look.

“So you told him about everything that’s happened?” Levi turned to Eren with an accusing face. Eren frowned.

“Well yeah, he’s going to cover my shift at the sandwich place for a while, I thought he needed to know.” Eren shrugged like it was no big deal. Levi couldn’t believe he ever had hope for this kid. He was a moron.

“Telling one friend is barely a crime Levi.” Hanji rolled her eyes. She was doing the thing again where she read his mind.

“Uh…well-“ Eren began unsure after setting down the couch where the mattress previously laid.

“Hey Eren, I didn’t know which pair of jeans to take, so I took all three of them, I hope you don’t mind.” A smaller male voice called upon entering through the door. “Oh…hello.” The boy stopped when he saw Hanji staring at him. It was the other boy from the bar with longish blond hair and a tiny frame. “I’m sorry, I should’ve knocked.”

“That’s alright. What’s your name buddy?” she asked cheerily swinging a hand over his shoulders and squeezing a little too hard. The kid winced a little and looked downright uncomfortable.

“Uh-Armin.” He squeaked uncertainly. Levi tore his gaze away from Armin back to Eren who was looking at the ground guiltily.

“Please tell me this is it.” Levi pleaded sitting down on his bed. “Or should I expect the rest of the Desperate Housewives cast here?”

“Levi!” Hanji exclaimed offended. “That’s very mean of you.” she shook her head “He looks _nothing_ like Felicity Huffman.”

“It’s just them, no one else.” Eren assured ignoring Hanji’s comment which made Jean secretly snicker under his breath. “Uh Armin this is Levi and Hanji. You remember her right? She’s that bartender from that night.”

“Uh, yes of course!” the kid had no fucking idea. He just didn’t want to hurt Hanji’s feelings, which was tactful of him, Levi thought. “You have a nice place here.” He complimented and Hanji beamed.

“You think so? Levi didn’t let me decorate his room, but everything else was done by me!” she said proudly.

“Will you really be able to protect Eren?” he asked quietly. Eren huffed slightly offended.

“I can take care of myself just fine.” He returned in the desperate need to prove his manliness. Both Levi and Jean shot a sarcastic glare towards him, Jean even snickered a little.

“Of course! The last thing they expect is those two teaming up.” She motioned to Eren and Levi who were back to glaring at each other since Eren caught Levi’s mocking look. “We know how they think.” She said all-knowingly and slightly dramatically.

“How do you know them exactly?” Armin asked simply. It looked like Eren was about to ask Armin stop being so nosy, but he froze instead, realizing he never asked that himself.

“I used to be a part of their group.” Levi answered simply, while Eren’s eyes grew wide along with Jean’s.

“So you’re a fucking criminal too?” Jean asked outraged. “Jesus Eren, didn’t you think of asking that before you decided to trust them with your life?!” Jean’s face was red angry. Levi was wrong, Jean was the biggest moron in the room.

“Yes obviously.” Levi replied in an overly sarcastic tone “A criminal mastermind always reveals their identity along with a detailed description of their plan to annihilate everyone a few weeks before it happens. Just to keep everyone on the same fucking page.” Jean calmed down, but his face was still red. At least it didn’t seem like Eren followed the same train of thought as Jean did. Levi became aware of the kids staring at him confused so he sighed losing his sarcastic tone. “It was a long time ago, back when they weren’t doing stuff like this. We were mostly just fooling around with drugs and some petty crimes once in a while. I got out when I realized they were thinking of starting the business. I wasn’t cut out for something like that.” Levi trailed off and caught Hanji’s worried face from the corner of his eye.

Jean still scoffed under his breath annoyed at fuck knows what. Eren was still staring at Levi but his gaze was softer than a glare this time.

“What about us?” Armin asked suddenly “Eren can’t go out of the apartment much on the risk of being seen.” The kid thought out loud. “But if we visit Eren here, would it put me and Jean in trouble as well?”

“I don’t know.” Levi replied first “But it would be better if the visits weren’t that often.” It was common for Levi to take the temporary leadership role when Erwin wasn’t around. Armin merely nodded in response, he was the only one asking the smart questions around here.

“So are we done here?” Jean asked impatiently.

“Uh yeah.” Eren nodded breaking his gaze away from Levi. “Thanks for helping me with my stuff.”

“It’s no problem.” Armin replied with a modest smile.

“Sure, just don’t make me do it again.” Jean replied rubbing his head where he previously hit his head. Eren’s friends left soon afterwards and Hanji finally went to bed on the very true and smart excuse that she has a night job so she sleeps during the day. Levi’s face soured when he realized he didn’t have an excuse for his day time sleeping.

“So, what do you do?” Eren asked once his friends left and Hanji went to sleep. Levi was lying in his bed trying to fall back asleep.

“I’m sleeping dumbass.” He replied with his face plumped deep in the pillow.

“No I mean like where do you work?” Eren replied with complete disregard to Levi’s reply. Crap, the kid was just forcing him to lie.

“I work a night shift at the hospital with Erwin.” He replied turning on his back.

“So you’re a doctor?” Eren asked with a hint of awe in his voice.

“No, we’re sort of like security guards of the lab and equipment.” Levi stated lazily with his eyes closed.

“Oh.” Eren said simply “What’s your full name?”

“Eren, I’m fucking sleeping, which part of that don’t you get?” Levi was annoyed.

“I’m gonna be stuck here with your for at least two weeks whether you like it or not.” Eren explained slightly pissed as well “I’m here in this mess with you and I know nothing about who you are! I know I fucked up, and I don’t expect us to become friends, but how can I trust you when I don’t even know the basic things about you?” Eren finished his rant with a sharp exhale. “Mine’s Jaeger by the way.”

“I know.” Levi rolled his eyes. A short silence settled in between them, Eren was sure Levi was asleep by now, but Levi’s tired voice spoke quietly. “It’s Jacquez.” At least one thing about him wasn’t going to be a lie.

“Huh, sounds French.” Eren commented lightly.

“That’s cause I’m French idiot.” Levi sighed.

“Really? You don’t seem uh French.” Eren trailed off realizing how it sounded.

“Et pourquoi ? Parce que ça ne correspond pas à tes stéréotypes?” Levi returned smugly in his mother tongue. It felt so strange yet pleasant speaking like that again.

“Whoa.” Eren laughed slightly “I have no idea what you just said but I’m guessing it wasn’t nice.” Levi couldn’t help but smirk to himself arrogantly. “How old are you?”

“29.” He returned automatically.

“Oh, I’m only 23. And you know what I do for a living already.” Eren said to himself embarrassed.

“Yeah. So did I pass the test? Am I allowed to sleep now?” Levi asked overly ironically.

“Sure, whatever.” Eren sighed getting up from his couch “I need to settle things with my manager anyway.” He announced. “Uh- it’s okay if I leave for a bit right?” He asked unsure.

“I’m not your fucking mother, you can do what you like.” Levi grumbled already half asleep. He didn’t even hear the kid leave the apartment, he drifted to sleep that fast.

Though, this slumber was even more troubled than the last one. Levi was traveling through the woods alone, it was dark and worst of all muddy. He could barely see a thing which was frustrating, he can always navigate well in the dark, he was a god damn vampire after all. At first he was wandering sort of aimlessly, but the deeper he went the harder it seemed for him to move. There were more trees and bushes in his way, along with random holes in the ground and branches tripping him along the way. Eventually he began to search for an exit, there had to be a clearing somewhere, some kind of light or anything, anyone to help him get home already. In the distance he saw Erwin and Hanji standing together with a few flashlights. Levi tried to call out but his voice was stuck, all that came out were desperate puffs of air. He would’ve tried running to them but now he was completely stuck in place among the trees and they were far away. Suddenly he saw another flashlight much closer, Levi moved and fought trying to get out of that spot, but it was useless. He was stuck and wet, and dirty, and cold where no one could see him. The flashlight started coming closer suddenly and a faceless figure approached extending his hand to Levi. Once he accepted the hand he seemed to slide out of the spot instantly, but only then Levi saw that he was holding hands with a werewolf. For some reason they started to fight, Levi was using all his might, but right before his fist touched the creature his hand slowed down and lost all of its strength. The more Levi tried to fight, the angrier the creature got and started baring its teeth and growling aggressively.

The growling kept getting louder and clearer as eventually Levi slowly opened his eyes to find a large set of sharp teeth, dribbling with saliva a few inches from his face. Instinctively Levi jumped back and bared his own fangs in a matter of seconds before realizing he was about to attack a large dog. Levi blinked a few times as his fangs slowly went back to their place while the german shepherd started barking.

Eren burst into the room a few seconds after, calling the dog by his side.

“Sasha! Get over here!” he bellowed strictly. The dog glanced between her master and Levi a few times before going by Eren’s side and continued to glare at Levi from afar. Eren gently petted her head before staring at Levi apologetically.

“Sasha?” Levi hissed through his teeth.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what got into her. She loves people, I swear.” Eren looked baffled at the sudden outburst of his dog. Well, Levi wasn’t exactly what you would call people.

“What is that thing even doing here?” Levi asked getting up from his bed. The dog reacted and started growling at him again.

“She was all alone in the house, so Hanji sai-“ Eren started.

“Hanji.” Levi simply said closing his eyes. She popped up at the doorway suddenly, all dressed and ready to go to work as usual.

“You called?” she dragged out and bended over to pet the dog who was more than happy to receive her attention.

“No pets.” Levi stated simply looking at both of them.

“What? But look at her, she’s so cute!” Hanji gushed over scratching behind her ear.

“No. Pets.” He repeated simply.

“She won’t cause trouble, I swear.” Eren was the one coming to protect her.

“Yeah Levi don’t be such a party pooper.” Hanji pouted.

“Did I fucking stutter?” Levi said angrily.

“Hey, this is our place as much as it is yours.” Hanji suddenly stood up “Fine, you don’t have to like Sasha, but she has to stay somewhere. So she’ll be staying in my room.” She decided and Eren looked relieved. He took her to Hanji’s room but not before Sasha glared at Levi one more time.

“Are you determined to make my life a living hell?” he asked her once Eren left.

“No. I’m determined to make your life an adventure.” She said gleefully before heading out the door.

Levi flopped back on the bed with a tired sigh.

“Sorry about that.” Eren apologized again once he was back in the room. “Is Hanji your sister?” he asked shyly.

“Thank god no.” Levi breathed “She’s just my roommate.”

“I’m kinda hungry, do you like want to order a pizza or something?” he asked suddenly.

“Not really. There’s food in the fridge, you can help yourself.” Levi suddenly remembered his night’s trip. It was obvious Eren felt weird going through another person’s fridge, but he was gonna have to get the fuck over it.

Levi had just turned on his laptop, and thought about the appropriate time for him to leave ‘for work’, when Eren came back from the kitchen after his late night dinner.

“Ha, I thought I was the only one who ate unsweetened cornflakes.” Eren said conversationally as Levi simply ignored him. “And it might be none of my business, but you gotta get new wine Levi.” Eren said while Levi suddenly stopped typing “The one you have now tastes really awful.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah as you can tell im still unsure about eren's character so yeah lets just enjoy the tv show puns and references and ignore the flawed characterization


	5. Beyond Belief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is still more of a filler chapter. I'll continue with the main plot in the next chapter, i just wanted to settle the things between Levi and Eren before I moved on. I don't feel very confident about the quality of this chapter, but I'm sincerely hoping it's just me being paranoid or something, so enjoy! Oh and thank you for all the wonderful feedback guys!!!!

Sweet and light dreams were surrounding Levi. Pictures of his childhood home, his friends, who he always got into trouble, and his little sister with her short, straight hair, black as coal, and her shy yet curious smile, whenever she followed Levi out of the house. All of it created the perfect picture with even light guitar music playing in the distance somewhere. Though as the vampire slowly awoke, the picture disappeared yet the light guitar melody stayed. His eyes opened up unsurely as he listened to the light fingering of strings coming from the other room. Still feeling quite sleepy Levi got up from his bed and slowly dragged his feet towards his roommate’s room. He made barely any sound at all as the person in the other room kept playing. The musician tried to cause as little commotion as possible too, so the melody sounded even lighter.

Levi quietly opened up the door just slightly, enough to get a peek at Eren sitting on Hanji’s cluttered bed and playing the instrument with an incredibly concentrated face, which was almost frowning. Eren’s body swayed slightly, feeling the beat of the song.

“Eren.” Levi called quietly in his sleep driven voice, breaking the gentle flow of the melody. The boy slightly jumped at being caught in a moment like this. He looked slightly flushed as he realized Levi was probably standing there for a while.

“Levi! Uh sorry, I didn’t see you-“

“Shut the fuck up.” Levi said just as softly before shutting the door and going back to his room where he could hopefully continue his dream.

…

“This kid is driving me insane.” Levi whined taking a seat at the bar. It was around the time when Levi would fake going to work, when really he just went to Hanji’s.

“What did he do now? Is it the dog?” Hanji asked with an amused smile playing on her face. It wasn’t a very busy evening given the fact that it was Monday. Even the local drunks had some decency not to fill up the place on a Monday. Good for them.

“I haven’t encountered the beast since the first time thankfully. I still feel it staring at me two doors away.” Levi wrinkled his nose in distaste while Hanji bit down a laugh. “He leaves his clothes just cluttering the couch, and right before I left, he left crumbs on the kitchen table after his dinner.”

“Well what did the police say?” Hanji shot back with sarcastic seriousness.

“I’m serious. It’s been three days and it feels like a decade.” Levi complained while sipping his blood. He hadn’t dared to go for a killing nor eat when he was at home, even when Eren wasn’t there. He swore to god he heard the dog growling every time he opened up the cabinet to get his wine. He had to move the bottles he kept in the fridge to a distant cupboard. He made sure to move even Hanji’s staff to a more secure place. He was beyond mortified when Eren told him he drank his personal wine. And it was the rare kind of blood, mixed with a few spices, which Levi really liked.

“Levi, you’re being, well as they put it these days, a drama queen.” Hanji rolled her eyes while Levi looked taken aback, which only stressed Hanji’s point. “He’s a kid in his twenties. His biggest worry is how is he going to update his blog and get away from telling his parents about all this rather than a few bread crumbs.”

“And when did you become an expert on the current needs of kids?” Levi bit back, squinting his eyes.

“A few nights ago, when he told me all of those things.” Hanji replied simply and watched as Levi frowned and looked away. “This would be much easier for both of you if you actually put a little effort in talking to him and getting to know him.”

“I lost you at ‘effort’.” Levi deadpanned. “As you said yourself, he’s a kid in his twenties, while I’m over a hundred years old. I lived through both world wars, I’ve seen people being killed and thrown away like trash like it’s a regular Wednesday. You have to realize, how insignificant I find his life to be.” Hanji stayed quiet for a while, polishing one of the wine glasses in her hands.

“I don’t believe you find him insignificant.” Hanji finally said while shaking her head. “I think you just don’t _want_ his life to gain any significance to you.”

“Is there a club that you and Erwin opened up to talk about the deep philosophical meaning behind my behavior?” Levi asked ironically, setting down his wine glass.

“Yeah, we meet up every Tuesday evening, make delicious hot blood cocktails and talk about you.” Hanji replied in a serious tone of voice. Just then Levi’s phone buzzed with a message from Erwin suggesting to go to the gym while it was still open. “Just give it a try Levi, that’s all I’m asking.” Levi merely sighed, quickly downed his drink an announced he was leaving.

There was a gym that a colleague of Erwin’s told them about. It wasn’t far from the hospital where he worked and it was open up until midnight so the both of them had the chance to get in at the late evening when it was almost always empty. Both of them bought membership cards a few years ago. Erwin paid from the money he earned, while Levi used the money from a dead man again. Erwin persuaded him to join because he believed physical activities would be therapeutic for Levi, and of course because they had to keep fit.

Sadly, the ticket to eternal life didn’t come with an eternal never changing body. Levi found out when he had started using drugs and stopped hunting so fiercely. After a few years like that, he could barely kill a slightly overweight middle aged man. His muscles had gone weak, his cardio went to shit and he generally didn’t feel very strong even though he had the slight natural advantage against human strength.

The sleepy girl behind the desk greeted them with a tired, but honest smile. Levi almost felt sorry for her. The vampires had special lockers at the end of the room with their own locks, meaning they could keep their stuff there permanently. Levi rarely did that however, his clothes had to go straight to the washer after every workout. He felt downright gross wearing the same clothes for two workouts in a row.

He and Erwin stayed quiet for most of the time. They’ve known each other for a very long time and there was no need to fill in the silences anymore. Levi brought his favorite black tank top and shorts and went straight on the treadmill to warm up. For once, he really felt like blowing off steam because of all the stuff with Eren, his usual routines going out of balance, his sleeping pattern was fucked up and he hadn’t gotten laid in more than a week. For a centuries old vampire he still had the stamina and sex drive of an 18 year old.

Levi sped up on his treadmill and watched from the corner of his eye as Erwin was warming up as well, stretching on one of the yoga mats. Unlike Levi’s loose shorts, Erwin preferred tights and Levi couldn’t believe what he was thinking while staring at him.

“So how’s Eren doing?” Erwin asked suddenly out of the blue. Levi mentally slapped himself before responding.

“I don’t know. I guess he’s alright. You should ask Hanji.” Levi said in between breaths. Erwin turned his neck to look at Levi who seemed to have other things on his mind.

“He’s been living in your room for three days now and you don’t even know how he’s doing?” Erwin asked but shook his head immediately afterwards. It was a rhetorical question really. He realized it once it left his mouth.

“He’s not running away, so it can’t be that bad.” Levi shrugged. He glanced over to Erwin who had the same look on his face as Hanji did an hour ago. Levi sensed the question that was going to follow. “He’s human. There’s all there is to say about that. Whether I get to know him or not, it doesn’t matter. In a few weeks he’ll be gone and in a few more decades he’ll be dust, while I’ll still be here doing the same thing as always.” Levi explained.

“Just because his days are numbered, doesn’t mean he can’t make a difference.” Erwin shrugged. “Perhaps he can’t change the world, but he can change another person, mortal or not.”

“If you and Hanji couldn’t patch me up, I doubt some wimpy kid with a shitty blog is going to do a better job.” Levi bit back harshly jumping off the treadmill and moving on to stretch his arms a bit before grabbing the weights.

“Perhaps not. But you can’t deny there’s some kind of connection between you two.” Erwin noted wisely. “Even his friend, Armin, can see it.”

“What?” Levi stopped for a moment to look at Erwin.

“Oh, I follow him on twitter. He’s a smart kid actually.” Erwin said with a little smirk. He always felt a little of self pride whenever he would catch up to the ever changing technologies throughout the decades and got the hang of them quickly. Levi didn’t comment on this and focused on the weights, feeling sweat slowly forming on his body.

“The human factor doesn’t stop Hanji from interacting with Eren.” Erwin compared after a while. Levi scoffed a little.

“She’s young. Well… considerably young.” He added.

“We don’t know that. For all we know she could be older than the both of us.” Erwin thought out loud. Levi nodded, he had to agree on this one. Hanji was a special case, neither of them knew how old she was or at what age did she get bitten. The problem was, neither did Hanji.

“Are you still doing the research?” Levi asked curiously.

“I’m not giving up on her.” Erwin replied with a stern face and eyes full of guilt. He moved on to simple weights for his arms.

“It’s weird to think that that crazy geek could be older and wiser than the both of us.” Levi thought out loud. “Well okay, maybe not wiser.” He scoffed a little with a light smile and Erwin slightly laughed in return.

“What about that AB-?” Levi asked suddenly. They hadn’t discussed the payment to offer to Ymir since the time Levi was at Erwin’s.

“I should get a hold of it until Friday. Hanji will make the transition. I’ve already discussed this with her.” Erwin informed simply while Levi frowned.

“Why her? Shouldn’t I be the one to mend this crap?”

“It’s too risky. We still don’t know if they saw the post or not. If they did, they might feel like it’s a personal matter and become violent.”

“They might as well go after Hanji too.” Levi pointed out. Erwin’s latest plans weren’t the brightest in Levi’s mind.

“It’s less probable they will. In any case you forget that she is as strong as you, she’ll be able to take care of herself, you don’t need to worry.” Erwin assured with a soft smile. Levi’s eye twitched a bit. Warm feelings and Levi just didn’t belong in the same sentence or universe, even if they were true on some level. They still made Levi cringe internally.

“I’m not worrying.” Levi stated.

Erwin was starting to work up a sweat too and the both of them spoke less and less as their workout got more intense. Levi couldn’t help himself and playfully slapped Erwin’s ass as he went past him. Erwin jumped a little at the sudden contact, glaring at Levi with a confused face.

“For old time’s sake.” Levi said simply with a small smile, as Erwin chuckled shaking his head. Surprisingly, Levi stopped looking at Erwin like that after that one gesture. He guessed it felt kind of weird now.

Levi reached home way after midnight. He stopped at the bar again after the gym to cool off for a bit. Hanji gave him a few more cryptic sounding yet not so subtle hints about talking with Eren, which Levi did a good job at ignoring. The bar was even emptier than before so Levi didn’t linger for long.

He would never have guessed that during this time, when things hadn’t been this tense in the vampire-human world in decades, he’d be bored out of his mind and finding ways to procrastinate. His life seemed to be full of drama, yet his days were full of nothing. Well, to be quite frank, his days used to be filled with great nothings all of the time, that was sort of the curse of being immortal. But only now could Levi truly see the dullness of it. That was the result of contrast, you don’t realize the wrong until you’ve seen the right, and you don’t know you were in the dark all this time until you see a light.

Levi comfortably sat up on his bed with his laptop on his legs for some late night research or TV show marathon. Eren was already curled up on his extended couch, his back facing him, but Levi could hear he wasn’t asleep. _Sucks to be you_ , Levi thought before finding his headphones. He was about to plug them in when Eren stirred restlessly in his bed, turning on his back and no longer hiding the fact that he was awake. Levi took one glance at the boy staring at his ceiling, barely blinking before sighing deeply.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked or more like stated. Eren glanced at Levi with his wide awake eyes and a slightly confused expression.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“How come?” Levi prodded half heartedly, putting down his headphones.

“It’s just that all of this-uh never mind, it’s nothing.” Eren cut short shaking his head. He turned to his other side and stared at the ground.

“You already started, c’mon spill it.” Levi prodded more insistently this time. Eren merely frowned and shook his head again. “C’mon” Levi dragged out, swinging his leg over the bed and slightly prodding Eren in the hip with his foot “While I’m still interested.”

“I just never thought something like this would happen to me.” Eren said finally. “Hanji keeps trying to convince me that it’s all just one big adventure, but it’s not, is it?” he asked quietly, lifting his eyes to Levi. The vampire said nothing, only kept staring at the kid who didn’t seem like much of a kid now. His eyes were heavy with a kind of tiredness. He didn’t seem childishly naïve like he usually did. “When you imagine having an adventure, it’s usually more running and chasing, being on edge and the adrenaline surging through you. It’s not cowering in someone else’s home, being afraid to go out or look out the window, because you don’t want to die.”

“Yeah that sucks.” Levi managed to say. Eren didn’t react from the reply and kept staring at the ground.

“Is there a possibility that I’ll just walk away from this, no harm no foul? That nothing will actually happen, and I’ll carry on with my life as I used to without any risk because of this?” Eren asked with a frown.

“If we follow Erwin’s plan, according to him, your ass should get out of thi-“

“I don’t want Erwin’s answer.” Eren cut him short and looked up straight at him with demanding eyes “I want you answer.”  

“Probably not.” Levi answered calmly. Even if Ymir and the rest of Gangreen gang did leave them alone and forget this ever happened, Levi and his family couldn’t. Eren had already seen enough, far too much for even Hanji to ignore. Levi would be lying if he said he didn’t know there was a high chance they were going to have to kill him in the end anyway. But, he was trying not to think about it much either.

“So what’s the deal with you working at that sandwich shop? Aren’t you a writer?” Levi asked almost reluctantly. Besides, he needed the kid to stop sulking so much, it was bumming him out. Eren chuckled a bit.

“I wouldn’t call myself a writer. I’m a fast food worker with a writing hobby who got lucky one time.” Eren said with a smile. “I wrote a blog entry about this kid who had gone missing. It got spread around a bit until it reached a few people who saw it happen and helped the police find him. The story got published with my name there and my blog entry that I wrote.” He explained with a sad smile. “I thought this was going to be my breakthrough, that I’d be noticed and could take my writing to another level. Huh, good thing I listened to Mikasa and didn’t quit my job.”

“Who’s Mikasa?” Levi asked and was surprised to hear how curious his voice sounded.

“She’s my cousin, we’re close, she’s like my sister.” Eren clarified “Do you have any siblings?”

“I used to have a little sister.” Levi replied, but didn’t particularly feel like expanding on that subject. Eren didn’t press it either. “How come I’ve never seen her around? If you’re that close, you’d think she would bother to visit you.” Levi commented with a raised eyebrow.

“She has severe anxiety and PTSD.” Eren deadpanned. “So no, she doesn’t really enjoy going out of the house, and she doesn’t know I’m here. I didn’t want to make her worry.” Eren’s face was stern. Levi winced internally.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” He muttered, while Eren merely shrugged, though his face seemed slightly more relaxed. Why in the world did Hanji think this was a good idea? Levi was just proving the fact that he was an asshole and making it harder for himself when he’ll have to kill him.

“It’s fine. Goodnight.” Eren said turning on his other side. Levi merely hummed in response before picking up his headphones again.

Levi didn’t really hear or see the show he was watching. His mind was someplace else, but he couldn’t tell where. He drifted off to sleep in the early hours and for once woke up on his own rather than a result of some sort of commotion going on around him. Eren wasn’t in the flat, nor was the dog, Levi could smell. Gleefully he got up and stretched. It was the afternoon. Strangely enough, Levi felt quite alright being up this early.

He reached under his bed and took out one of the bottles with Mr. Hemmings’s blood. It felt a bit unfitting, he was storing such low class blood into bottles which dated back to the 19th century. But now Levi was too focused on the fact that he could eat at home. The cork slid out effortlessly and Levi took his time to find a wine glass. Hungry or not, he wasn’t going to start drinking out of a bottle like a pig. He swirled the liquid in the glass like some wine tasting expert and raised it to his lips when he heard a dog growling two doors away and someone fiddling with the doorknob seconds after. Levi quickly chugged down the blood down his throat and focused on returning his eyes and teeth back to human-looking before Eren locked up the dog in Hanji’s room and went inside-

“Morning.” Eren greeted as Levi quickly pushed the stained glass and the bottle under his bed again.

“Mhm.” Levi simply hummed as he felt the last of his fangs disappearing beneath his gums. Eren dropped his jacket on the couch and went to check his phone as Levi felt it was safe enough to turn around.

“Hey is it alright if-Levi, uh you’re kind of bleeding.” Eren pointed out with a wince. Levi quickly raised a hand to his face and sure enough he found a drop of blood on his chin.

“Shaving accident.” Levi shrugged off before going to the bathroom to rinse off his hand. He would’ve just sucked the little drop off but that would mean his fangs would extend again. He took his time rinsing his hands and splashed his face with cold water too. His heart was still beating like crazy from the sudden fright. In the other room Levi heard Eren talking on the phone with Armin.

“Eren, are you sure you’re safe there?” Armin’s small voice sounded even more fragile over the phone.

“Of course I’m fine!” Eren answered confused.

“It’s just… there’s something fishy about all this.” Armin hushed and Levi halted in the bathroom.

“What do you mean?” Eren asked confused.

“Everything just seems a bit…unnatural to me, something is definitely not adding up.” Armin sounded confident and Levi sighed tiredly. Oh god, now he was going to kill two kids? How about they add Jean as well? It’ll be like a sale: kill two kids, and we’ll throw in the third one for free!

“Armin don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid? Don’t you think if those guys wanted to do harm they would have already done it? Why would they go through all the trouble of inviting me here?” Eren asked for once a smart rhetorical question.

“Still the whole situation is-“

“Give it a break Armin.” Levi could hear Eren roll his eyes.

“Well in any case, you should tell me if something weird happens.” Armin was insisting. “Maybe me and Jean should do some digging around like we always do.” He added as an afterthought.

“No, don’t go fucking around with this. You didn’t see how serious Levi got when I wanted to do that, which means it’s pretty fucking dangerous.” Eren’s voice was urgent now.

“You trust him that much?” Armin asked shyly.

“What? No! I mean- well… I sorta have to?” Eren was confused. “I- I don’t know.” He eventually concluded with a defeated sigh. “Even though he isn’t ignoring me anymore, he still feels sort of distant.” Eren sounded a bit sad or disappointed. “The first week isn’t even over yet though, so just…we both need to be chill about this.” Eren said as a final note.

Levi felt that he was in hiding for long enough. Maybe he underestimated Eren… While his friend had good intuition, Levi at least now knew that Eren wasn’t a pushover. He was walking towards his room thinking about what Hanji said. Maybe a little effort in this wouldn’t be too bad? The vampire opened up the door to his room and felt his arm stinging like hell along with his leg. It took him about half a second to realize that Eren pulled up the blinds and another half of a second to jump back a mile from the sunlight.

Levi didn’t realize when he had screamed out from the sudden pain, but Eren was standing above him a few moments later asking what was wrong.

“What the fuck, Eren?!” Levi bellowed with an angry frown. He felt the tips of his fangs prodding his gums, wanting to come out. He quickly hid his arm behind his back which was all red.

“What? What did I do?” Eren was slightly panicking.

“Don’t ever touch the blinds on the windows you little shit. Bring them down.” Levi was breathing deeply. Eren frowned confused, but got up and did as he was told nonetheless. Meanwhile Levi hurried back into the bathroom again and poured ice cold water on his arm. His foot was less damaged because he was wearing socks and slippers. But his arm looked like it had been sitting out in the sun for a few hours. Levi bit down on his lip as the water hit the sensitive area, it stung like fucking hell.

Eren was standing near the bathroom now as Levi wrapped a towel around his arm to hide the burned area.

“What the hell did just happen?” He asked surprised while folding his arms.

“I’m incredibly sensitive to sunlight.” Levi stated with his back to him. Thank god Eren didn’t see the incredibly sarcastic expression Levi was bearing. But in reality, this was the best excuse he could come up with.

“That’s…fucking weird man.” Eren frowned. “I mean sorry, but I didn’t know.” He corrected himself quickly. “That you’re a goddamn vampire.” He added under his breath and Levi froze momentarily. He couldn’t understand why though, why was he afraid?  

“Just don’t fucking touch them again.” Levi’s breathing had gone back to normal, but he was still fuming as they went back inside the dark room. Eren turned on the lights, which wasn’t a problem for Levi. The vampire got back to his laptop and shutting Eren out, which the kid seemed to accept. But for a very split second, in all that anger Levi was feeling, he felt a pang of guilt because Eren didn’t know the whole truth, and it would be so easier if he did.

…

The next time Levi even glanced at Eren was because he seemed to be glued to his laptop screen with an incredulous face. He was previously talking on the phone with someone, which led him to turn on whatever the hell was watching now. Levi subtly slid down his headphones and heard a reporter’s voice coming out from Eren’s computer.

_“Authorities are still unaware of how the attack happened. The medical investigation revealed a large amount of blood loss and a few stab wounds, which are believed to be the main cause of death of the 43 year old male. The man was accused of sexual abuse against his 16 year old step-daughter a few months ago, but the charges were lifted.”_

“What are you watching?” The question left Levi’s mouth quickly. Eren lifted up his head unsurely from the screen, surprised that Levi was even talking to him.

“Oh, it’s a news report from a few days ago.” Eren explained. “I-I wrote a blog article about that guy a few months ago, and now he’s…” Eren trailed off, shaking his head at the screen. “And this isn’t the first time this has happened. Jean jokes that my blog is cursed or something, because whenever I write about someone, after a while they end up either dead or missing.” He said the last part with a laugh, though his eyes seemed to tell a different story.

“Shit happens.” Levi shrugged. “The people you write about seem like the scum of the earth anyway, they had it coming.” Levi couldn’t help but comment.

“No.” Eren quietly said, while shaking his head. Levi finally lifted up his head to fully look at him. “Sure, I write about criminals, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to die like that. No one does.” Eren frowned like it was obvious.

“I thought the whole point of your shitty blog was to bring them to justice.” Levi shrugged.

“Yeah, justice as in get them locked up and do time for their crimes, not get fucking massacred. I mean if we just started killing every single person who had committed a crime, what kind of world would that be?”

“You’re more naïve than I thought.” Levi commented. “If you think that by locking up a few dicks, the world is going to be a better place, you’re wrong. Whether you lock people up or write blog entries about every single fucker that’s done something wrong, it ain’t gonna change shit. There will always be people who kidnap, rape or murder, and there’s nothing you can do to stop this.” Levi went on a bit of a rant, but he felt like he needed Eren to know how pointless all of this was.

“I do know that!” Eren replied offended. “You don’t need to coach me like I’m a fucking kid. Maybe I won’t change the world, but I’ll still feel better knowing that the kid who was found because of my post is napping soundly in his bed, with his parents in the other room. That their lives aren’t going to be broken, because above all at least they have a whole family safe under their roof.” Eren’s ranting was getting louder. For a second Levi could have sworn he had seen him choking back a tear. Whatever Levi said, it hit something personal. “Yeah maybe I’m a bit naïve, but believing I can achieve something greater, and change something for the better is all I’ve got.” Levi was silent, staring at the file on his laptop containing the information about the people he had killed or were next on the list.

“But are you telling me” Levi started quietly after a moment “that while you’re writing about those terrible crimes, you don’t wish for them to die?”

“Yeah, sometimes.” Eren chuckled darkly. “But you don’t end violence with violence, it would make me as bad as them. I believe everyone deserves a second chance, a way to repent their crimes and get help.”

“That’s bullshit.” Levi stated. “By that logic, if a murderer says he’s sorry and does a few years in prison, then it’s alright? You think a little jail time is going to make it all better for the victim’s family?”

“Probably not, but they would realize how poisonous it is to carry that kind of anger inside of you and learn to let it go.” Eren was spacing out while saying that. Levi felt a bit weird looking at him, since it seemed Eren was talking from personal experience “While the ultimate punishment for the murderer isn’t prison, it’s coming face to face with what he did, with a sober and healthy mind, and trying to accept it.” Eren explained, looking right at Levi.


	6. Warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things are starting to get more intense. Wow i'm actually going forward with the plot instead of referencing TV shows and making my characters bicker. anyway, i'm not feeling very confident about the chapt but i hope you'll like it, enjoy!

Levi closed his book with a loud snap, getting tired of Eren’s lousy mood. He hated it when the kid talked, he hated it even more when he was quiet and moping.

“Levi, do you ever think about what happens when you die?” He asked off handedly while staring at the wall. He spent half the day playing games on his phone, but eventually got bored and started doing what Levi was doing, which was essentially nothing.

“Oh god, do you expect us to have a deep talk and bond and shit?” Levi rolled his eyes. “Should I dim the lights to set the mood?”

“Well you don’t-“

“Maybe get some wine. Hold on, lemme open up a sad violin music playlist on youtube.” Levi pretended to start typing it up on his laptop.

“Jesus, who shoved a cactus up your ass today?” Eren replied with a bitter frown. Levi sighed, perhaps he was pushing it a little with the irony.

“You did, with your moping around and being all melancholically sad.” Levi glared slightly at him. “And I don’t think anything happens, people just stop existing and that’s that.” The vampire sighed.

“Well what do you expect me to do?” Eren replied outraged. “I’ve been stuck here for a week now, I barely have any money, I don’t have a job to go to, the only time I go outside is to take out the dog and even then I have to be careful and don’t go too far.” Eren threw his head back over the couch armrest. He had his eyes closed from the frustration and his stretched neck accented his jaw line.

“So like write about something, there are plenty of news stories about fuckers who never got sentenced.” Levi suggested with a bored sigh.

“That’s not how it works. Usually me, Armin and Jean do a little digging around of our own, talk to the victims, their families and get the fresh scoop. I need to see and hear it for myself to be able to write the way I do.” Eren explained. “Seriously, what do you do for fun anyway?” he frowned looking up at the ceiling.

Levi raised his eyebrows, threw a glance towards the kid and looked him up and down. His sort of fun involved less sad and a whole lot of naked, but he guessed this wasn’t what Eren had in mind. He took one more look at the almost pouting kid in his room before closing his eyes. He was going to regret this. That phrase was becoming his motto apparently.

“Okay, get up and change into something less hobo-ish.” Levi stood up from his bed and walked over to Eren. “We’re going to Hanji’s.”

…

“It’s a good thing you don’t have to work today.” Eren commented as they had left the apartment. Levi halted momentarily. Shit he forgot about that. Okay so he’ll allow himself a fake free day, his fake job sure was tiring after all. “But isn’t it dangerous to go out?” he added looking around the dark streets.

“It’ll be fine. It’s rare seeing them on a Monday.” Levi stated. Monday was the least busy day for the vamps right after Sunday. Barely anyone was out, and those who were, were much more sober and less susceptible to their usual manipulation.

But the actual reason why Levi wanted to go to the bar today, because today was the day that Hanji had to make the transition. It was supposed to happen after midnight so they were a few hours early. Erwin made it clear that Levi shouldn’t intervene, and bringing Eren wasn’t the smartest thing either. But Levi wasn’t going to do anything, was it a crime he wanted to go visit his good friend Hanji? That sounded nowhere near convincing even in his head.

Levi led Eren through a dark alley which was a huge shortcut to the bar. Eren kept looking behind him and all around them for fuck knows what, and Levi started to feel like they were harboring some kind of fugitive rather than a blogger who talked too much. They were reaching the exit of it and getting back on the street where the bar was right around the corner, when Levi saw a shadow peeking out from the main street. From the shape of it, it was clear it was a woman, but just as the shadow got close enough to reach the opening of the alley where they were walking Levi realized, whoever this person was, they had no scent.

The second Levi saw the flash of a tiny figure with blonde hair he grabbed Eren by the arm and pushed him closer to the wall in the shadow where he joined as well. Eren’s eyes were wide in surprise as he didn’t understand what was going on.

“What? What happened?” Eren started rambling seeing the slightly panicked look on Levi’s face. Out of all of Ymir’s group, he least suspected to see Annie there. She kept on walking and Levi honestly thought it would be that easy to get away with this, but this was Annie. She was their main tracker, except she mainly worked from inside. She stopped right after she passed the alley where Levi and Eren were hiding and lifted up her head, remaining completely still. Levi’s mind was working on double speed, trying to understand what she was hearing and smelling and what possible conclusion could she reach. Levi was pretty much invisible to her, however Eren was like a big red dot on her radar along with his fear…

Eren was opening his mouth to ask again when Levi turned around facing him and trying very hard to silence him with just a look. He wasn’t getting the message by the look on his face so Levi cursed in his mind before putting his hand against the wall and trapping Eren. He took a step closer, and another one, until he could properly say that he had fully invaded Eren’s personal space. The kid was still staring at him confused, but his fright was slowly being replaced by something else.

“Well this is cozy.” Levi all but purred inches away from Eren’s face, and this time there was no mistaking where his blood went. Levi was perfectly aware Annie could hear every word that he said.

“Uhm, what? Le-“ The vampire silenced him before he said his name with a finger on his lips. His own lips were touching the other side of the finger and finally Eren got the message. Maybe not the exact message Levi was trying to pass, but at least he wasn’t trying to talk. Eren’s face was flushed while he was staring right back at Levi, waiting to see what he would do next.

The vampire slowly drew back his finger and landed his hand on Eren’s shoulder, very slowly dragging it down. Eren’s breathing was picking up the pace, and he did something Levi didn’t expect by placing his own hand around Levi’s waist. The shorter man didn’t think Eren would take a step forward as well, but what he really didn’t expect was for his arm to be so warm. His side seemed to almost burn from the touch.

Annie finally moved on from her spot and kept on walking when Levi had just turned his head into the crook of Eren’s neck, slightly breathing down it. He was about to turn to his ear and quietly explain what actually just happened when he got a good whiff of the hot blood pumping through his neck. Levi swallowed loudly, trying to ignore the exciting sensation, which was just his deprivation he told himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t eaten in more than a day and the thought of slightly nibbling down wasn’t hypnotizing-

“Sorry about that.” Levi blurted out, quickly taking a few steps away from Eren. He almost pushed himself away from the wall. His own heart was beating rapidly now.

“I don’t-“ Eren shook his head confused still stuck against the wall. Levi quickly racked his brain again. He couldn’t tell him about Annie, Eren had no idea about the delivery that was supposed to be made today. The vampire was having trouble thinking straight with all sorts of thoughts still circling inside his head. He glanced out of the alley and saw a shiny black car at the other side of the street. He motioned for Eren to follow him as they went deeper into the alley, away from the main street.

“Is that the car that’s been following you?” Levi asked quietly. Eren turned around, nearly gasped at the realization and nodded trying not to show fear.

“I thought so, as soon as I saw it I had to get us out of their sight. Someone could’ve been listening to us too. They can’t know you’re here.” Levi was being serious this time, his look was almost urgent.

“But then why did you-?” Eren started to ask since not everything seemed to add up here. But Levi wasn’t quick enough to think of an explanation for that. It wasn’t like he could say that they can smell fear and hear your heartbeat, so a distraction was needed.

“Going out was a bad idea. C’mon, don’t just stand around there, we’re going back.” Levi ushered him to follow him home.

He heard Eren’s footsteps behind him and didn’t say another word until they got back. Levi’s mind was in havoc throughout the walk. His two most fierce desires have met before countless of times, but never has the collision between desire and hunger made him so incredibly sick in the stomach. For the first time, Levi realized that he was a danger to the kid as well.

Eren didn’t talk about it either, which Levi was silently grateful for. There was a sort of tension between them now that Levi wasn’t quite sure how to break. He hadn’t been in contact with an actual human being for longer than an hour in a few decades, and even then he wasn’t particularly good at this socializing thing.

“Well that was a complete bust.” Eren sighed tiredly, dropping his jacket on the couch, and the tension seemed to have gone just like that. “Guess I’m back to doing nothing, like every other day.”

“We just ran away from real potential danger, and 10 minutes later you’re bored again?” Levi asked not believing his ears. Eren simply shrugged.

“We’re not in danger anymore so…”

“You kids are unbelievable.” Levi shook his head in distaste.

“Why do you keep talking about people my age like we’re a completely different generation? You were just like us a few years ago.” Eren bickered.

“Trust me, I was never like you.” Levi argued back with an all-knowing look.

“Sure, so what, you were always grumpy and all mysterious looking?” Eren mocked “I can hardly imagine you as a teenager.” He laughed slightly.

“You know what? I liked it better when we were playing the I’m-pretending-you-don’t-exist game.” Levi snapped.

“Well you’re the one who promised to take me out.” Eren complained, and caught on moments later on how that sounded, his face turned pinkish.

“I’m so sorry, I should’ve made some calls and made sure our stalkers were on holiday.” Levi bit back and turned on his laptop where he was re-watching and old TV show. Eren huffed annoyed and looked over to his roommate.

“What are you even watching?” he asked getting up from his couch coming to stand near his bed. “Is that Buffy?” he asked with a surprised look on his face. Levi didn’t blame him, he didn’t look the type to be doing this. It was all Hanji’s fault really for making him remember the damn show. “Man I love that show, I basically grew up with it.” Eren commented with a nostalgic smile.

“If I allow you to watch it with me, will you stop whining?” Levi truly felt like he was babysitting now. Eren’s eyes merely went wide and he smiled widely moments later, climbing in bed next to Levi.

Eren was sitting on top of the blankets while Levi was underneath them. They didn’t really talk throughout the time, with the small exception of Eren humming the opening song after a few episodes. Levi felt him slightly shaking after a bit. Eren was cold but he was keeping his mouth shut. Perhaps he feared that if he spoke up Levi would order him to go back to his side of the room. So after the third episode Levi gave in and lifted up the blanket for him to go under, Eren did so without a word, he only smiled modestly.

Their shoulders were bumped together, since it was nearly impossible for them to sit apart and watch the show comfortably. Honestly, he was quite surprised Eren was still wide awake, when usually at this time he would go to sleep out of boredom. Meanwhile, it was the vampire who was struggling to keep his eyes open. Throughout the week his sleeping pattern got fucked up completely. He was awake through half the day and half the night, each time it was a different half.

Levi was trying very hard to focus on the poor portrayal of demonic vampires on screen and not the warmth of a living human being against him. It wasn’t exciting or even hunger inducing this time though. Sure he could hear and smell Eren’s blood calmly and rhythmically flowing through him, but it did nothing to make him hungry. On the contrary, it was slowly lulling him to sleep. The warmth radiating off of Eren was comforting, like some sort of security blanket Levi never really needed. He felt himself sinking into it as his eyes were failing to follow what was happening on screen. 

…

Levi’s eyes shot open once he heard someone come in through the front door. His neck was aching and his whole body felt paralyzed, besides, there was something heavy on top of his head. It took him a few seconds to realize that his head was uncomfortably resting on Eren’s shoulder, while the kid’s head was resting on top of his. When he went to slowly lean away, the vampire noticed that his hands were loosely wrapped around Eren’s upper arm, as if he was clutching it in his sleep.

Eren stirred upon being moved, but didn’t wake up. He simply fell to his side and continued sleeping soundlessly. Levi didn’t bother covering him up with the blanket or setting up a pillow underneath his head. This wasn’t supposed to happen, so he was going to act like it didn’t. Levi told himself on the second day that he wouldn’t get involved with Eren like that. He wasn’t sure why, but he was confident it wouldn’t be wise. There were more important matters now than accidental cuddling anyway.

“Hanji?” Levi called once he opened up the door of his bedroom. She was about to go into her own room, but lifted up her head once she heard her roommate.

“Oh, I thought you were sleeping.” Hanji said in a quieter tone than usual. The hallway was dark, but he could see the tired look on her face. There were a few creases in her forehead from frowning, it made her seem older.

“How did it go with Ymir?” he asked hurriedly as Hanji fully approached him. She didn’t seem injured, no bite marks or torn hair. That was a good sign.

“What went with Ymir?” Eren suddenly piped up from the bed. Shit, Levi didn’t make sure he was really asleep. Eren was sleepily rubbing his eyes and looking expectantly at the both of them.

“I ran into them today.” Hanji was quicker than Levi this time. She had her usual bright smile on.

“Really? What happened?” Eren sat up on the bed.

“Nothing exciting really. They hardly remembered you, I can bet you a hundred bucks they didn’t see your post either.” She laughed it off, but Levi could see the tension in her eyes. Something wasn’t right.

“But what about the black car I’ve been seeing?” Eren frowned. Hanji shrugged comically.

“It’s probably unrelated, so relax kid.”

“So it’s safe for me to move back?” he looked at them expectantly. Levi was a little surprised at his eagerness to leave, but shook right out of it. It would be a relief to have his room back to himself.

“Well let’s wait until the morning, we’ll talk with Erwin and sort this out, but yeah I think it is.” Hanji assured. Eren merely smiled to himself and dropped his head back on the bed. Levi was quietly observing the conversation from the side and followed Hanji into the kitchen. Her smile dropped as soon as she left the room and Levi didn’t quite understand why his undead heart was pumping someone else’s blood so furiously inside of him.

“What happened?” Levi demanded once they were in the kitchen. He kept his voice almost to a whisper in case Eren decided to eavesdrop.

“I lied.” Hanji immediately said with a guilty look on her face. Unlike Levi, lying wasn’t a second nature to her. “They saw the post.” She was frowning again as Levi suspected her doing throughout half the evening.

“Well what did they say? Did they at least take the blood?” Levi rambled slightly.

“Yeah they accepted it, it was going just fine, but then- oh fuck, Levi-“ she cut short, taking a few deep breaths calming herself. “Okay, it’s best if we just take this to Erwin right now and figure this out.” Hanji concluded with a clear and confident look. It was scary seeing her this collected and serious. Levi merely nodded and moments later they were headed out the door to Erwin’s place.

The trip was quick and quiet. It was nearly 4am, the night’s air was chilly and dry as if it was filled with the same anticipation and worry as the two vampires were. Hanji sent a quick text to Erwin before they came, making sure he wouldn’t be busy at the time.

Erwin swung the door open for them before they even finished climbing up the stairway. Their leader hurried to Hanji’s side first, taking her face into his hands, inspecting it for any damage.

“Were you hurt?” he asked curtly. His face was stern, the sharp face features gave even more strictness to his expression.

“No, I’m fine.” Hanji reassured breaking free and walking to the kitchen. The boys sat down at the table waiting for her report, while Hanji was pacing across the tiny kitchen.

“Alright, so I’m going to start with the good parts.” She concluded to herself. “Ymir showed up alone. She wasn’t looking for violence like myself, and accepted the blood gratefully, so hooray for that!” she exclaimed slightly shakily. 

“But she mentioned that they saw the post.” Levi stated more than asked. Erwin’s eyes remained piercing and calm like of a true leader. The only indication of a surprise was his slightly raised eyebrows.

“Yeah. She mentioned it very casually, like it wasn’t a big deal. I assured her that the post was taken down, and there’s no threat of her name being out there. But she didn’t seem to care about that.” Hanji stopped pacing. “She brushed it off like it was nothing! We were about to go our own ways when she turned to me and said that she hopes we’ll take care of Eren. The post was proof that we were exposed and it has to be dealt with.” Hanji took a deep breath. “She said that if we aren’t going to take care of this, then they will.”

Levi and Erwin sat there for a few minutes in complete silence, taking in everything Hanji just told.

“So the ultimatum is” Levi broke the silence “either we kill Eren ourselves, or let Ymir do it.” He broke it down.

“Basically.” Hanji affirmed.

“Maybe we can avoid either if we prove that Eren in fact didn’t see anything.” Erwin thought out loud.

“How exactly are we going to do that?” Levi asked frowning. “Do we just come up and ask, hey, Eren, do you by any chance think we’re vampires?” he put his head into his hands “If we’re not right about this, we’ll have to skip town and start everything all over again.”

“Well…” Hanji trailed off. “Maybe not exactly like that, but… perhaps we should raise the question of telling Eren the truth?” she asked raising an eyebrow while watching closely how Erwin and Levi would react.

“Hanji, are you sure Ymir didn’t hit you over the head at least once?” Levi asked with a skeptical frown.

“Just hear me out okay?” she asked confidently. Levi glanced over to Erwin, who looked interested. “I know vampires and humans don’t really match up, but maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to have one human on our side? We know him, we know he can keep his mouth shut…with the right reasoning at least. He works with the media and maybe will even get into public press, he could keep an eye for us, give us the scoop that we can’t get.”

“And do you think he’ll react lightly to this sort of news?” Levi asked “Yes we know him well enough now, but I doubt he’ll be feeling very loyal once he realizes everything we’ve told him is a lie.”

“If it goes badly, we’ll kill him.” Hanji had trouble saying the last part. “But maybe it’s worth a shot.”

“Hmm…maybe.” Erwin finally spoke up.

“You’re considering this seriously.” Levi stated rather than asked looking at Erwin. “Am I the only sane person in this room?”

“So you suggest we simply kill him?” Hanji shot back with a glare.

“No.” Levi quickly replied, which earned a look of surprise from both of his friends. “I don’t know.” He sighed.

“I don’t think there’s a right answer here.” Erwin concluded. “According to everything, we should uh eliminate the threat, but this case is different. Either we risk our own lives protecting Eren or we do what we’re supposed to, and have Eren’s death hanging over us.” Erwin explained. “And it’s not just Eren’s. His friends would most likely have to go down the same road as well.” He added. Levi didn’t tell Erwin about the overheard phone call between Eren and Armin. There was actually more than one.

“I think they know Eren is living with us.” Levi commented after awhile. “I saw Annie today.” He answered their unspoken question. Both Erwin and Hanji sighed simultaneously. There was a high chance that Ymir knew exactly the position she was putting them in. That was why she reacted so calmly.

“I’m leaving up the decision to Levi.” Erwin stated after another minute of thoughtful and nervous silence.

“What?” Levi lifted up his head quickly.

“Eren’s life. I’m leaving it up to you. I trust you enough to make the decision for yourself, especially in a situation where either decision you make is going to be understandable and justified.”

“What the fuck? Why me?” Levi fired up, standing up from his seat.

“I agree.” Hanji nodded. “Think of it this way Levi, you started the whole mess, and it only makes sense that you should end it.”

“Yes exactly.” Erwin nodded. “I realize this is a lot, and that you and Eren share-“

“If you use the words ‘profound bond’ again…” Levi threatened.

“-but I think you’d be the person who could pull this off, even if it meant killing him.” Erwin finished.

“So just because I’ve had experience in killing people, somehow that gives me the divine right to pull the plug on him?!” Levi exploded. “I need a drink.” He announced after a sigh, going to Erwin’s bedroom to find his stash.

“He seriously doesn’t realize that he and Eren-?“ Hanji murmured to Erwin, watching Levi go into the other room.

“Apparently not.” Erwin answered ahead of her.

They stayed at Erwin’s for another good hour until they saw that dawn was going to break soon. They kept bickering, going between taking sides and trying to think of alternatives, but nothing new was suggested. Levi tried to talk Erwin out of dumping the responsibility on him, that they were a team, a family, this was on all of them. But they kept assuring that whatever decision he made, they were going to understand it, and not hold it against him in any way.

Levi didn’t talk to Hanji all the way back home. Not because he was in deep thought, he was mad that this was simply handed to him. How the fuck was he supposed to make that decision?

“You make the decision to kill people in cold blood on a daily basis.” Hanji commented when they had reached their apartment. “How is this one any different?” she asked rhetorically. She knew quite well how it was different, and on a certain level so did Levi. It was just making the decision even harder.

Levi walked into his room to find Eren sleeping in the same position when they had left. This time Levi had the time to lazily pull a blanket over his shoulders. He sat near his desk thinking it over one more time. How was he supposed to look at this kid in the morning like everything was fine, the danger has passed, knowing this would be the last time he was going to dream, that the moment Eren would turned his back on him, he’ll have to snap his neck.

 _Kid, what did you get yourself into?_ Levi thought bitterly.

When morning came around after a few hours, Eren finally rolled out of his bed, finding Levi seated at his desk. He hadn’t moved an inch.

“Didn’t you sleep at all?” Eren asked looking down on Levi. The vampire shook out of his state and glanced at the boy who was realizing he slept on Levi’s bed. Again.

“Not really.” Levi answered, though he wasn’t really there.

“So I guess I should start packing then.” Eren stated with a smile, getting up from the bed. Levi hummed in response as he stayed in place.

Eren was waltzing around from room to room, collecting everything he owned, talking to himself as he tried to remember where everything was. After passing Levi a few times in his slightly paralyzed state he finally stopped in front of him.

“Uhm Levi, I think you should get some sleep.” He suggested. “Is-uh everything alright?” he asked a bit shyly. Levi finally snapped out of his state and looked up at the pair of ridiculously green eyes staring at him with worry.

“Huh? Yeah of course. I’m kinda distracted.” He didn’t even know why he was making excuses, he didn’t need to explain himself to the kid. Or maybe he did?

“Yeah, I noticed.” Eren chuckled. “Hey, have you seen my iPhone charger?”

“No. Eren, there’s something I want to-“ Levi started getting up from the chair.

“Wait hold on, I wanna say something first.” Eren interrupted. “I’ve been a terrible roommate, I know that. And I just want to say, I’m sorry for intruding your life like that because of my stupid decisions, and I will perfectly understand if you ignore me next time you see me on the street.” Eren laughed slightly, while Levi felt like stabbing himself in the stomach. “But most of all, I wanna thank you. Uh, I mean not just you, but Hanji and Erwin as well for taking me in. You guys went out of your way to help a complete stranger because there was a chance I could get hurt. I just want to let you know, that that is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Levi didn’t need to stab himself, it seemed Eren was doing the job for him.

Eren stood there a bit awkwardly, not quite sure how to end this. He frowned slightly, taking a step closer. “Please don’t punch me or anything for this.” He asked before putting his arms around Levi in a tight hug. Levi stood there completely still, not being able to lift up his arms to return the embrace. He really did feel like punching this kid though, because instead of the guilt he was supposed to be feeling, all he could think about was how warm it felt being against this stupid kid, who stumbled into his life just like that.

Eren let go a moment later with a shy smile on his face.

“So what did you want to tell me?” Eren asked off handedly.

“Nothing.” Levi answered immediately, shaking his head. Eren merely shrugged before going back to packing his things.

Without much thinking, or probably any thinking the vampire picked up his phone and quickly typed up a message for Ymir: _No need to worry about Eren. He is of no threat. We remain unexposed. -Levi_


	7. Turning Point

Eren was fully moving out on the next day. Tomorrow his friends agreed to help him get the couch out of the apartment, and they would go out for drinks after that. Eren unsurely asked if Levi would like to come, but as expected Levi declined. Eren looked slightly hurt and guilty, probably thinking that Levi hated him. It wasn’t like Levi could properly explain why he couldn’t go out for drinks on a sunny day.

The danger was still very real, perhaps even more intense now with Levi’s decision. But there wasn’t a way they could explain all this to Eren without actually exposing themselves, there was no reason that they could provide so that Eren would stay.

Levi wasn’t regretting his decision. It may have been dangerous to them, and now all three of them were on watch by Ymir, but… actually, Levi didn’t quite know the ‘but’ part. He just knew he would have probably hated himself more if he had gone with the other plan. He was just a kid after all.

“So what did you decide?” Hanji asked in the evening, when Eren was out taking the dog back to his place. She was trying not to show how anxious she was. Even though Eren had confined in him that Hanji was a bit too hyper and reckless, and on occasion she crept him out, it was clear both of them were fond of each other.

“I texted Ymir that Eren knows nothing about us.” Levi stated simply walking past her to get his dinner. He heard a definite sigh of relief from her side and moments later there were two long hands embracing him from behind.

“Thank you.” She sighed and smiled honestly for the first time that day. Levi halted in surprise at the sudden contact.

“What is it, national ‘hug the vampire’ day?” Levi frowned getting out of the embrace. Hanji was merely smiling cheekily. Guess she figured who delivered the first hug.

“Pft, admit it, you liked it.” She teased him again. Levi was fucking tired of all her innuendoes she made about them.

“Yeah, it was touching. We broke down, shed a few tears, talked about our feelings and shit.” Levi said in his most serious tone of voice. “Then Eren played a song he wrote for me on his guitar, and I revealed that I’ve been dreaming about him every night ever since he moved in. We cried some more and then made sweet sweet love right there on the floor.”

“Actually I wasn’t talking about Eren.” Hanji’s smile grew wider as Levi’s sarcastic expression dropped. “But it’s nice that you’re starting to admit you’re thinking about him. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be able to say that without the sarcasm.” She winked playfully, walking away from him. “I’ll call Erwin and tell him the news, we’ll need to be prepared.” She dropped seriously, while heading to her room.

Levi was left standing there with his mouth slightly open. He thought it over, Hanji didn’t really say who she was talking about, yet his mind made the jump to Eren immediately. He shook right out of it and took a large swing out of his wine bottle.

Like Hanji, Erwin was happy with Levi’s decision. It was kinda fucked up in that way. The whole ‘there is not right or wrong in this situation’ bullshit. There was, apparently, they just didn’t want to burden Levi with it. Most of all, Levi thought the both of them were surprised he decided to let Eren live, considering the kind of brutal enthusiasm he had shown before.

The vampire looked around his room which was back to being plain and grim with almost all of Eren’s stuff gone, except for the couch and a few little things lying around. The whole room smelled like Eren, and it would probably stay like that for at least a few weeks. A natural human scent is stronger than any kind of perfume, but worst of all it sinks through into every piece of furniture, the floor, the walls, hell even the door smelled human. Levi wrinkled his nose. The room stank of life. The kind that he could never have, the sort of life that was taken away from him hundreds of years ago. And god fucking damn it he missed it. Most of all he hated it. Not the being alive part, the fact that this brat was _making_ him miss it. He quite enjoyed being alive thank you very much.

The culprit came back a short while later with a content look on his face, having left his dog and a bunch of his stuff back at his place. He mentioned that the black car was nowhere in sight and that he should be out of their hair by tomorrow afternoon. Levi sort of wanted to glare at him from across the room, because you couldn’t be more wrong, kid.

“So apart from the couch, and the things I’ll need in the morning, I think I’m all packed.” Eren announced dropping down on his couch.

“Not entirely.” Levi contradicted. “You left this.” He picked up and old, used up notebook, with its brown leather cover peeling off at the corners and handed it to Eren. His face cleared up as he was handed the book.

“Oh right, thanks.” He looked down and shoved the notebook deep in his backpack.

“So what’s in it?” Levi asked casually, sitting down on his chair. The kid looked slightly flustered, like he didn’t want to say.

“It’s uh-my old writings.” He admitted. “When I was like 14-15 years old, I was kind of obsessed with solving this crime and getting revenge. I had anger issues back then.” He laughed it off, but looked away realizing he probably shouldn’t have said that. “Anyway, I got over it eventually, and this became sorta like a notebook with all my failed investigations, all the blog posts that never came to be.” He explained still not lifting up his head. “It’s pretty boring stuff really.” He added lightly.

“Must’ve been one hell of a crime.” Levi commented, having a hard time imagining this kid raging. He was soft as a marshmallow.

“It was. It’s the reason Mikasa’s all broken up.” Eren was staring off into space, his mind was somewhere else. “And I kept thinking, maybe if I would’ve been there it could’ve been different, maybe if I wasn’t too late to tell her to fight, that if she doesn’t fight she can’t win.” He kept staring at that one spot on the wall, and chuckled sadly “Or maybe it wouldn’t have helped at all.”

“So did you solve it?” Levi’s calm and bored voice broke the short silence.

“Nah. I mean if the police couldn’t find any leads, how could I?” Eren shrugged. “It still kinda bugs me.” He added quietly. So that was why Eren started his whole blog business. Levi could tell that he was far from over about it, and helping others was just his way of coping and feeling better about his own failure. In a way it was similar to Levi’s situation, except his way of coping was plummeting down into self-hatred and leaping over the justice step and getting right to killing.

Though, in a way it felt nice knowing this fact about Eren. It was like a plot hole being filled, or a puzzle piece to a shapeless picture was added.

“It’s kinda fucked up that you can’t even take your own advice.” Levi dropped and Eren broke his stare, looking at the vampire with a frown.

“What do you mean?”

“The whole ‘if you don’t fight, you can’t win’ stuff. It’s good advice in theory, but it seems like you’re fighting not because you want to win, but because you feel like you owe the world something, when you don’t. You can’t admit that you lost this fight and take up a new one.” Levi explained, twirling a pen in his hands.

“Maybe I can’t.” Eren agreed and Levi lifted an eyebrow curiously, looking over to the kid. He was expecting a defensive comeback. “Maybe I did start writing because I felt guilty, but in the long run it started to make me happy. People were thanking me for showing everyone their side of the story, and that they felt heard and understood now. I couldn’t win my fight, but I can help others fight theirs, and that makes me feel less shitty about losing.” He explained with a calm face.

“Okay fine, you found your fucking zen or whatever in dealing with other people’s issues. But they don’t make your issues go away. You can’t make a difference in the world or in other people’s lives if you can’t suck it up and make a difference in yourself.” Levi contradicted.

“But helping others helps me too!” Eren was finally getting frustrated. “If I spent my entire energy simply on myself, that would make me one selfish dick.”

“Maybe you owe yourself that.” Levi replied after a short silence “Everyone needs to be a selfish prick once in a while.”

“I’m not gonna quit writing.” Eren said with a final note on the matter. “Who do you fight for, Levi?” Eren asked with almost childish curiosity, looking at Levi with wide eyes.

“Only myself.” Levi frowned like it was obvious. “If I’m in a fight, there’s no way I’m gonna start rooting for the other guy to punch me.” He said with a serious face, looking at Eren like he was stupid, while he started laughing at the sudden break of tension.

“I can’t imagine you fighting.” Eren commented lightly.

“For a writer you sure do lack imagination.” Levi frowned.

“Well c’mon, I mean sure you have that whole intimidating look about you, but you in a real fist fight? I don’t see it happening.” Eren shook his head. Levi wanted to smirk slightly, especially since he had taken part in plenty of fights, uprisings, revolutions and a vampire war.

“You don’t seem much of a boxer either, kid.” Levi scoffed mockingly.

“Hey, I took karate lessons!” He bit back defensively. Levi simply raised an eyebrow. “Well I might have been 12 and went there because I’ve seen too many Jackie Chan movies, but I still did!”  

“Yeah? Fine, show me then.” Levi challenged him getting up from his chair. Eren choked on his words a bit, staring at Levi, before getting up quickly from the couch.

“I’ll try to be careful.” Eren said seriously, stepping closer to Levi after dropping out of his hoodie. “I wouldn’t want you to break a hip while falling, old m-“ while Eren was being cheeky, Levi rolled his eyes, spun him around, bended an arm behind Eren’s back and swung his own arm around Eren’s neck. He was disarmed and locked in place.

“What were you saying?” Levi asked sarcastically. Eren fidgeted under the grasp a few more moments until Levi let go.

“I wasn’t ready.” Eren excused himself, concentrating and raising his arms in a defensive position. Levi simply offered an ironic grin and motioned for him to attack. Eren went in with a simple few not too hard punches aimed to his chest, which Levi easily blocked. The vampire oversaw the next punch coming along from his left arm and readied his arm to block it when a surprise kick landed on his side from his right leg. Levi stumbled to the side, not because he was actually hurt or the hit was hard, he was actually making an effort to seem human.

Eren smiled in satisfaction from throwing a surprise kick on him and went on to throw another punch while Levi was still disoriented, but it was blocked easily. Levi didn’t like tricks being played on him like that, so he slid his foot to trip Eren and held him by his side just as he was about to hit the floor. He was once again in no position to move unless he were to fall on the ground completely. Levi helped him stand up and finally Eren was wearing a pissed off face and started actually attacking.

Levi blocked most of the hits like usual, as he was just defending himself and not attacking. He let a few slip, like that surprise kick and a surprise punch later on, but it was clear that Eren was no match. Though, Levi had to give him credit for determination. Every single time his hits were blocked or he ended up on the ground, the kid quickly got up and tried again with an even fiercer look.

Eren thumped on the floor once again as Levi simply tripped him and didn’t catch him this time. Levi was looking down at him, with his foot lightly resting on his chest in a show of victory. The writer was breathing heavily and for a moment Levi thought that he was going to call it a night and give up on it. Suddenly Eren grabbed hold of the leg on top of his chest and gave it a quick pull making Levi momentarily lose coordination. In that momentum Eren quickly turned on his side and pushed him over, making the vampire fall to the ground.

This time the vampire winced in genuine pain since his head hit pretty hard against the ground. Eren didn’t hear it though, as he was busy trying to get up. He got up on his knees only, but it was enough to look down on Levi from the side with a smug grin.

“Hm… I like you better like this.” He commented with that sassy smile still playing on his lips. Levi was still in shock of the sudden fall. He looked up at the proud kid and a small laugh broke through. It wasn’t like a smug laugh, more like a surprised one. Levi guessed it was because of the sudden turn of events, that this 23 year old kid managed to surprise an almost 200 year old undead being.

Levi wasn’t going to let his self pride grow for too long though, as he quickly kneed him to the side, making him fall over once again. Eren tried his fastest to regain control and get back on his feet, but Levi was quicker, pushing him back down on the ground and sitting on top of his stomach to prevent him from getting up. Eren was once again frowning childishly like he was denied candy from him parents and struggled to get free from Levi. The vampire merely slid down a few inches or so down his stomach and Eren’s struggling halted for a second or two as he had expected.

“Sorry kid, but I prefer to be on top.” He smirked barely visibly at Eren whose face flushed red. Levi seemed to realize the close position he had landed both of them in. He experimentally slid an inch lower and thought to himself that perhaps his ‘Eren is off limits’ rule could be off or at least put on hold, since technically he was moving out and the situation was over… well not really, but it was easy making excuses for himself right now.

The kid was still frustrated, trying to wiggle his way out of Levi’s grasp, but all it was doing was creating more friction. Well for Levi at least. Staring at him now Levi could start to imagine young Eren being angry and obsessive, he also imagined rage like that could possibly lead to some heavy angry fucking. Eren kept trying to sit up and push Levi off him, or push him lower down, who knows, when Levi calmly got a hold of his wrists and pinned his arms on the ground on either side of him.

“Okay you can let me go now.” Eren rolled his eyes, trying to set his arms free.

“Nah…I like you better like this.” Levi echoed Eren’s words from before with a small smile, inches above Eren’s face. The vampire could feel Eren’s warm and quick breaths on his face, feel his racing pulse on his wrists as well as smell the richness of his blood mixed with his own natural scent, which was a mix of dog, ironed clothes and his mint scented shampoo. Finally, Eren stopped struggling and was staring right at Levi the same way Levi was staring at him. It was only a matter of seconds before- the phone began to ring.

Eren jumped slightly at the sudden sound and Levi sort of snapped out of his state. Both of them refused to look at one another as Levi let Eren go so he could answer his phone. Levi didn‘t wait around to hear him answer it and went straight to the bathroom.

He splashed his face with ice cold water a few times, took a few deep breaths and refused the urge to slap his face on either cheek before going out. He couldn‘t believe he would‘ve succumed so easily to something like that. Sure, Levi‘s sex drive was high but he was never the one who could lose sensible thinking because of desire.

Levi had barely set his foot outside the bathroom when Hanji yanked him by his shirt collar to come stand beside her, right behind the nearly closed door to his room. The vampire stared angrily at his roommate who only shooshed him with a finger on her lips and mouthed ‘listen’. She had a slightly panicked yet excited look on her face as she leaned slightly towards the door and Levi took a breath listening in.

Eren was talking with Armin again and Levi sort of had an idea why Hanji yanked him over. He hadn’t exactly told anyone about what he had overheard between them.

“Eren, everything you tell me is making it seem weirder!” Armin protested.

“The sunlight sensitivity is actually a real thing Armin, I looked it up.” Eren was trying to keep his voice down as he fought back.

“Please open your eyes- dammit. I know this is farfetched, and this assumption of mine is going against scientific reasoning-“ Armin rambled on.

“Oh my god, please don’t tell me that you’re thinking- Fuck, I knew that watching Supernatural wasn’t good for you.” Eren whined in a defeated tone.

“Eren, I think I might be right, everything you tell me just keeps adding up.” Armin sounded frightened. Levi closed his eyes. _Shit. Fuck. Why Armin? Why did you have to be a nerdy brat, who decided to figure us out? “_ I think there’s a possibility we’re dealing with-“

“I don’t want to hear it, Armin!” Eren raised his voice. It seemed quiet on both ends for a while, Levi began to think Eren hung up on him, but then Armin’s shy voice broke through.

“I know you don’t want to see Levi in that light, and trust me neither do I! But…I won’t do any more convincing; I just want to ask you this: have you ever seen them eat? During the week while you were there, have you physically seen them eat food?”

“Of course I have!” Eren shot back quickly. Armin chuckled slightly.

“You always answer super fast when you lie.” The conversation turned to the moving out process and other daily things from there, but the vampires had heard enough already. Hanji quickly and soundlessly dragged Levi into her own room before Eren had hung up or realized they were eavesdropping.  

“I think Armin knows.” Hanji rushed with her eyes wide.

“Yeah, I know.” Levi answered quickly.

“What are we going to do?” she asked desperately. “You already told Ymir, and what if Armin convinces Eren? We need to get Erwin on this.” She concluded reaching for her phone, but then Levi’s eyes panicked slightly, reaching for her hand to stop her.

“We both know what he’s going to say.” Levi pressed. “He let it slip the first time, but now even Erwin couldn’t ignore an exposure on a massive scale like this.”

Hanji halted for a moment and dropped her phone on the bed, starting to pace nervously across the room.

“So what do we do?”

“Maybe…maybe your idea should be put back on the table.” Levi sighed tiredly. Never in his life did he think he’d actually suggest something ridiculous like that. But it was either this or three fresh corpses on the street. Hanji’s head jolted up with a hopeful look on her face.

“You think?” she whispered. “I mean it could be just a good idea in theory, this could turn on us big time.” Hanji was sounding doubtful.

“We’re in deep shit either way.” Levi reminded her. “From the moment Ymir made that ultimatum, any decision we make has its own set of negative consequences.” Hanji seemed to realize that and sat back on the bed with a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Golly, this is tough.” she huffed tiredly. “C’mon think! What would Buffy do?” she was talking to herself.

“I think we need to talk with Armin alone. See what he actually knows.” Levi leaned against the door. “Out of the three of them he would handle the news best. If we could get him on our side it would be enough.”

“What about Eren and Jean though?”

“If we get Armin, it will become easier to get Eren as well… I can’t predict his reaction though.” Levi looked away slightly annoyed. “Jean however, is going to go bat shit on us, maybe it’s best to leave him out of the loop. He doesn’t know anything for all we know.”

“But we have to tell Erwin.” Hanji insisted. “That’s a really great plan, but we can’t leave him out. Oh! You know that Erwin is best at convincing-“

“It’s called manipulating.” Levi interrupted. Hanji slightly frowned, she didn’t like thinking about it like that. “Yeah you’re right. We need him, especially with Eren.” Levi hated to admit. “But we can handle Armin ourselves. Let’s see how it goes with him and then we report back to Erwin. We can set up to meet with him tomorrow.”

“He’s not gonna be happy about it.” She shook her head.

“Yeah.” Levi whispered heading out of the room.

Eren was flipping his old notebook in his hands when Levi went back in. the kid didn’t even lift up his head, nor bother hiding the notebook away like before. Whatever Armin said had clearly gotten to him. He seemed thoughtful and distant. For once, both of their moods matched.

They stayed quiet like that for a while. Both of them heard Hanji leave for work and hummed in response to her saying bye.

“What’s with the sudden moodiness? Unhappy about moving out?” Levi couldn’t take the heavy atmosphere anymore. No one could compete with Eren’s sulking capabilities. That kid could even make Hanji start to contemplate the meaning of life.

“Armin doesn’t trust you.” He deadpanned. Levi didn’t think he’d be so straightforward about it.

“Can’t please everyone.” Levi shrugged.

“He doesn’t buy the whole thing, he says you’re not what you say you are.” Eren lifted up his head to look at Levi, carefully watching his reaction. However, the kid didn’t know that no one could compete with Levi’s ability to seem like he doesn’t give a fuck.

“What if we weren’t?” Levi asked calmly. “What would it change?”

“Everything?” Eren asked outraged.

“Alright, so for instance I tell you that we’ve been lying about our names, because we don’t want to be associated with Ymir.” Levi crossed his legs and kept looking at his roommate. “And I tell you that my real name is Tucker.” He rolled his eyes at how the name sounded.

“That’s not funny.” Eren shook his head at Levi.

“Who said I’m trying to be?” he stated. “Are you saying you’d disregard everything that has happened up until this point, because we chose to lie about a certain aspect about us?”

“I don’t know.” Eren muttered. “Maybe not, if it were something like that I’d understand.” He nodded.

“Good.” Levi dropped.

“But I don’t think I’d trust you anymore.” Eren shook his head as if he was talking to himself.

“Fair enough.” Levi agreed looking away from the kid. “So…” he took a deep sigh. “It’s your last night here, what do you wanna do?” he asked with a somewhat bored face. Eren merely frowned confused at the sudden offer.

“Uhm…I don’t really know…”

“Oh c’mon just pick something before I change my mind.” Levi whined, annoyed of Eren’s indecisiveness.

“Well…I don’t have anything special in mind. We could just do what we did yesterday.” Eren shrugged looking away.

“Fine. Get over here.” Levi sighed, opening up his laptop and searching where they left off with Buffy.

Eren hopped off the couch with a bright face and made his way to Levi. He took the liberty of simply getting under the same blanket as Levi without an invitation and rested his back against the wall as Levi finally found the episode where both of them fell asleep last time.

As the episode started to play, Eren was still fidgeting under the blankets and his hand bumped into Levi’s on accident. Eren seemed to realize it a few seconds later and went to retrieve it as Levi heard his heartbeat quickening just a tad, but the vampire extended his thumb and kept his hand in place. Eren didn’t say anything, nor did he look at him, but kept his hand there nonetheless. They weren’t really tangled or even holding together, more like resting against each other, but it was nice nonetheless.

“Man that Angel is annoying.” Eren complained as the character appeared on screen again.

“Try telling that to Hanji.” Levi returned and caught on the rumblings of Eren’s stomach. “You’re hungry.” He simply stated.

“Oh yeah. I was thinking about going to that pizza place across the street and order a takeaway. It’s cheaper.” Eren nodded. “Do you want one too?” he added carefully.

“Nah, I had a big dinner while you were out.” Levi explained. He guessed there was no use of trying to seem human by eating the food, since they were planning on coming out to them soon. Besides, he really didn’t want to eat human food. If a bite of an apple left him sick for days, what was a pizza going to do to him? Wasn’t worth it.

Eren headed out right after the episode was done and told Levi to not wait for him and watch the next one, since he had seen them all when he was a kid. Levi merely hummed in response, even though he had seen all of the episodes as well.

It was one of his favorite episodes, so Levi sat there immersed in the storyline and the tension even though he knew quite well what was going to happen. The new world came with a lot of new shit and its own set of problems, but no other invention had amazed Levi as much as movies had. He let a sigh of relief as the main characters got out of trouble once again and the end screen began to play. Only then did he realize that Eren was still absent.

It was a bit strange given the fact that the pizza place was no more than 5 minutes away. Levi picked up his phone to leave a passive aggressive message for Eren when the phone started ringing in his hands.

“Please don’t tell me you left your keys again.” Levi whined to Hanji. He was comfortable in bed, there was no way she was going to force him to get out of it.

“Levi. Hospital. Now.” Hanji’s urgent voice broke through.

“What?” Levi sat up straight.

“We’ve got a situation.” Her voice was quivering. There was commotion around her, lots of people talking urgently, but there were too many voices, Levi couldn’t pick them out. “Uh…shit. Fuck.” Hanji cursed under her breath.

“What’s going on?” Levi demanded seriously.

“I-I don’t know what he was doing out there by himself, maybe it was an accident?” she rambled. “Oh but fuck Levi there was so much blood, his-his throat was basically ripped out, I don’t think it was an accident.” Hanji was positively panicking while the color drained out of Levi’s face. “You need to get over here.” Levi had jumped out of the bed and ran outside before she could finish the sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun.... i hope you guys liked it. the next chapter is going to be a short one so hopefully ill put it up sooner. also wow thank you so much for getting my fic past 100 kudos!!!!!!!


	8. Jean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aright so first of all im really sorry if there are lame typos or the format is fucked up, ill try to fix that asap since im posting this while on the train and on my phone. Its a short chapter like i promised, its more of an information filler, i couldve added these parts to the last chapter but i wanted to end the last one very dramatically so ha enjoy

Levi honestly didn’t remember when was the last time he had run this fast. Hell, he couldn’t believe he was even capable of running that fast. His face was calm and collected, his breathing regulated into a steady rhythm, only the reckless leaping across busy streets indicated that Levi wasn’t quite himself. The hospital was a good half an hour away from their apartment, but Levi estimated he should reach it in 10 minutes no less.

The vampire’s mind was all but empty. When he had jumped out of bed and ran out of the apartment, most likely leaving the door unlocked or even open, he wasn’t really thinking. It felt like pure instinct kicking in and moving his body against his own will. He couldn’t even focus on the places he was running past, it was all just blurry lights and muffled sounds.

After a few minutes his shock started to phase out and his thoughts came rushing down like a waterfall. First came the flashing images of Eren lying in the hospital bed, barely alive or gone already, then his bloody, beaten up body lying in some driveway or alley so close to home, and finally the last time he had seen him, and sent him outside all on his own perfectly aware of the danger he could get in.

Levi suddenly stopped in his tracks as quick as he had started running. It felt like an invisible punch right in his stomach stopping him from moving forward or moving at all, like the surprise punches that Eren pulled and suddenly he felt like puking. The vampire clutched his stomach desperately as the passerby’s stared at him frowning or worrying. He pulled away off the main sidewalk into a shadow, realizing the attention he was drawing to himself. Levi was almost paralyzed with the sudden pang of guilt and responsibility of the kid’s life. How fucking naïve of him to think that this feeling would be easier to bear the second time. But then again, he never thought something like this would happen again and fuck, it shouldn’t have happened. None of this was supposed to happen and he wasn’t even sure whose fault it was anymore.

Berthold’s small smile and his forever indifferent eyes reached Levi’s mind next, along with the mocking line ‘huh, you’ve gone soft’ echoing in his ears and suddenly it all made sense. There was one thing in common between the two times that this had happened and it was those four fucking everything up. Whatever else Levi was feeling was replaced with white hot rage and he was back running again. This time with a definite goal and a set mind. He was going to fucking massacre them for this.

When the hospital came into his view though, flashing images of what he might see inside kept crawling back into his head no matter how much he willed them not to. Levi was only slightly out of breath when he came to a halt in front of the door and dived in, going straight for the emergency room.

“Jaeger. Eren. Where?” Levi demanded, quick and firm at the reception. The nurse was flustered as there was a lot of commotion in the hospital that night. The old lady with light blonde hair mixed with grey was talking on the phone and filling some papers at the same time. Nonetheless she lifted up her head at the vampire. Upon seeing the urgent look on his face she began checking the logs and shook her head.

“Wait who? Jaeger? I can’t see him. Wait, maybe it’s somewhere here.” She said to herself looking at the pile of papers on her desk. Levi merely scoffed impatiently and went off on his own.

It took him a few wrong doors, slight wandering around the hallway until he saw Hanji sitting on one of the couches next to an intensive care room. His roommate lifted up her head, revealing a tired expression. Unlike Levi, all of her emotions were right there on her face, the worrying had only deepened the small lines in it.

“That was quick.” She commented raising her eyebrows, coming to stand beside him.

“Where?” Levi simply asked. Hanji didn’t ask or say anything, just wordlessly led him near one of the glass rooms.

“The doctors can’t let you in, unless-“ Hanji started as she saw Levi eyeing the door to the room.

“I know how intensive care works.” Levi replied evenly staring at the view in front of him with an empty face. There were a few monitors, machines and countless of tubes around a body which looked almost indistinguishable. His head was almost entirely wrapped around in bandages. The few patches of skin that were visible were bruised or still bloody. There was a doctor and a nurse standing nearby, filling out the chart and attaching even more tubes. Nonetheless the calm, rhythmical beeping of the heart monitor forced a small sigh of relief out of Levi.

“Calm down.” Hanji said putting her hand over his, which were gripping the railing against the glass wall. Levi frowned confused, his posture and face were calm, but when he looked down he realized his knuckles were white with the force he was gripping the railing.

“What did the docs say?” he asked instead.  
“Not much. They’re not sure if he’s gonna make it, it’s a miracle he’s even breathing right now.” Hanji kept staring at the seemingly lifeless body as well. “I don’t think I like this adventure anymore.” She added quietly to herself.

“I called Armin, he should be here soon. He called his parents, they’re overseas now so they won’t get here until tomorrow evening.” Hanji informed while Levi simply nodded not really hearing her and not being able to take his eyes off the body. Once again he was brutally reminded how terribly fragile humans were. “I think maybe you should go talk to him.” Hanji added quietly, motioning with her head a little further. Levi reluctantly tore his gaze away only to land his eyes on Eren standing a few feet away, gripping the railing the same way Levi was.

The vampire’s eyes shot open. He looked at the body in the intensive care room and back to Eren standing right there, alive and healthy. Levi’s undead heart was beating furiously in confusion, until he noticed the short sandy hair peeking out of the bandages and noticed that the boy lying in bed was taller than Eren. Because it was never him, it was Jean. Levi thought back and realized Hanji never said who she was talking about, yet his mind made the obvious jump.

“Eren.” He heard the name leave his mouth as he took a step closer. It surprised him how much he didn't care why Jean was lying instead of Eren.

Eren remained still, staring at the ground, his hair was covering his face. Levi halted for another second until he saw his shoulders move from the breaths he took.

“You little shit, you got me scar-“ he started with a relieved sigh, reaching for him, but Eren violently shook his hand off the minute it touched him.

Only then did Levi see that he was gripping the railing as hard as Levi was just before, and his entire frame was slightly shaking.

“It’s all your fault.” Eren all but hissed not lifting his head. His body was shaking even more now. “You said they were going to be safe. You fucking stood there and told them that.” He scoffed out. Levi stood there baffled for a minute before the gut wrenching feeling came back.

“Look, kid, none of us were expecting this, it all just-“ Levi started. The person in front of him may have looked like Eren, but he definitely didn’t sound like him.

“I don’t care!” Eren burst out. A few nurses and doctors gave them a mocking side-eye for the noise. Eren finally lifted up his head and Levi had to refuse the urge to step back. His face was twisted in anger, eyes vibrating with almost a kind of crazed energy that felt like could tear down walls. There were dried up tears on his face, and new ones were threatening to fall as Eren kept shouting. “I don’t give a fuck how it was supposed to turn out, all I care about is that my friend is barely alive because of you! You promised everything was alright now and all that other bullshit about the danger being over!”

Now people were definitely staring at them, but Eren didn’t seem to care. Hanji suddenly stepped in between them, the only one who seemed to care that they were making a scene.

“Hey hey, let’s just calm down for a bit, maybe go outside for a breather.” She suggested calmly, taking hold of both of their arms. Eren shook out of it immediately but didn’t say anything to her. In fact, he acted like Hanji wasn’t even there and stormed off towards the exit.

“Levi, you should-“

“Yeah, I know.” He cut her short, reading her mind for once. He had to go after him, yet he was again frozen in place. “But what the fuck am I supposed to say?” Levi asked quietly. “Everything he said was true.” He didn’t wait for an answer, honestly he didn’t believe Hanji had one, and went after the raging kid.

Eren had just left the hospital when Levi caught up with him. The kid was really into his whole dramatic getaway thing because Levi had to grab him by the wrist to make him stop.

“What do you want?” He asked tearing his hand away from Levi’s grasp as if he was disgusted by it.

“For you to calm down.” Levi came up to him with no plan, he honestly had no idea what to say to him. “What happened is a tragedy, but-“

“But what?” Eren interrupted with wide eyes. “What can you possibly say to make it better? Some other hypocritical word vomit that I’m just supposed to believe like the kid that I am?” the writer was getting fired up again. “How didn’t it occur to you people to watch over them as well? You went out of your way to make me move out when nothing really happened, while you couldn’t get off your ass and at least watch over the other people involved in this!”

“If this course of action was so obvious, why didn’t you suggest it?” Levi shot back with a calm look, while Eren stood there shocked.

“Are you seriously going to fucking turn this around back to me? That the fact that your old friends attacked my friend is my fault?!”

“No, I’m not. I’m proving my point that no one could have predicted this. We’re not even sure that it was Ymir.” Levi added, because while he was almost absolutely sure, perhaps Eren wasn’t.

“Oh yes we are.” Eren nodded frantically. “Marco gave a good description and it was them alright.”

“Who’s Marco?” Levi asked calmly.

“He is the reason Jean is still breathing. His fucking co-worker did more to save Jean than you guys ever did.” Eren clutched his head suddenly. “Oh god, he said that it looked like they were eating him oh my god what did I get myself into?” he was rambling to himself, while Levi closed his eyes with a defeated sigh. “How can you be so calm?” Eren asked quietly, looking up at him like he was a complete stranger. Levi was feeling the same way about Eren currently as well. “I haven’t seen you worry or even frown from when you got here. Do you honestly don’t care that it’s your fault that Jean is here?” Eren bit harshly at him. Levi tore his gaze away from the kid, looking at the ground.

“Of course I do.” Levi answered automatically.

“I don’t see it. I don’t fucking get you. You let me get close to you one moment and then tell me I’m trash and don’t talk to me for days. Then you rush over here at light speed, but once you see my friend’s bloody body lying there hanging on life support you make it look like it’s a regular Wednesday to you?!” Levi wanted to answer yes, because at one point or another this was a regular occurrence for him. Nonetheless he kept his head down and let Eren beat him with his words. He needed to let it out, that was better therapy than any kind of shitty advice he could give him.

“Are you even human?!” Eren blurted out, but upon seeing Levi start to open his mouth he interrupted again. “If you’re going to say anything, can you for once be fucking honest with me and let me know what you’re actually thinking or feeling.” Levi closed his mouth and looked back at the ground wondering what should he choose to say. What was the most honest thing that he was feeling right now.

“I agree with you, I do believe it’s my fault, there’s nothing I can do to change that.” Levi started. “I really am sorry for what happened to Jean, but I’m glad it isn’t you who’s lying in that bed right now.” Levi lifted up his head to look at Eren who looked thrown for a minute. For a split second he could see Eren’s eyes clear up and go back to how they used to, before they got clouded in anger again.

“How fucking touching.” He spat, turning around to leave. This time Levi didn’t stop him, simply watched as he stormed off before going back inside the hospital. As much as he hated it, the night had just begun for them, and there were bigger things to come.

Hanji was still standing by the intensive care room looking after Jean. Levi had urgent things to ask her, but before he could open his mouth, Hanji was already talking over him. What was it today with people interrupting him?

“His condition worsened. The doctors say he has some kind of infection or fever that they can’t identify.” She stated calmly like out of a textbook. It seemed like Hanji already knew what Levi was going to ask and got ahead of him. For a minute they were both back to staring at the body being tended by nurses, trying to treat the symptoms until Hanji spoke up again.

"How's Eren?"

"He's in shock, but he should come around eventually, he really cares for his friends." Levi observed. Though, he wasn't really sure how long it would take for him to calm down.

"How about you, are you alright?" Hanji asked quietly.

"Of course." he answered automatically, but it didn't look like Hanji bought it. "Why Jean?" he asked finally.

"I have no idea." Hanji sighed sadly. "To send some message? For shits and giggles? Maybe it was a coincidence."

"No, I don't think it was an accident." Levi shook his head. "What about this Marco, how much did he see?"

"Oh right, he's Jean's coworker. Apperently he caught them at the act, so they scattered. They were feeding off him." Hanji added.

“Hanji, we need to-“

“I know.” She nodded seriously.

"I can take it from here, there's still a few hours till-"

"Levi, I think you should go to Erwin's and help him set up." Hanji interrupted with a worried face. "You're shaking." she answered his unspoken question. Levi looked down and frowned upon seeing his hands trembling.

Hanji was back to being ridiculously determined and slightly bossy. “I can handle it, you get to Erwin, Armin should be there already and you’ll need to explain to him before I get there.” She instructed.

Levi merely nodded at the command, trusting Hanji had thought it through and headed out right away to face one of the most fucked up nights of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so quick update, i know ive mostly kept on my schedule of posting one chapter per week, ill most likely wont be able to keep it cause im starting uni next week. I want you guys to understand that this story is my baby and im as excited to write it as you are to read it, but please be considerate, im moving out and starting school so im going to have less free time, but of course ill try to get the chapters to you asap


	9. Fresh Meat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey would you look at that I'm only a day late which is really awesome considering the crazy week I've had and that I had to rewire my whole writing to adjust to the way Eren thinks. anyway, I won't ramble much, enjoy!

Eren's POV

The door shut behind him as the young man counted the money he had in his back pocket. It was just enough to get him one large pizza and maybe a drink as well. As much as Eren would have liked to feel contempt and relaxed, Armin’s words kept ringing back to him. Maybe he should’ve asked what Levi ate? See how quickly he answered? But that would be too unusual, to ask something like that, Levi would definitely catch on to it. Or maybe he wouldn’t?

Eren had a difficult time trying to figure him out. At times it made him furious that he, a writer, who read people on a daily basis, couldn’t figure him out after more than a week. Though, at the same time it made it interesting and exciting. He felt something incredibly dark and mysterious looming over the entire presence of Levi. Or at least he liked to imagine that there was. It was pulling him in and trying to push him away at the same time, kind of like Levi himself.

The little pizza place across the street was basically empty, Eren sighed in relief because he wouldn’t have to wait long. While it was sometimes weird between him and his roommate, that yesterday’s evening as well as today’s felt comfortable and…the only other word that came to Eren’s mind was warm, but not in the physical sense. That was why he couldn’t wait to go back to that.

The girl across the counter was chewing her minty gum so loudly Eren could barely hear himself think. It sparked his usual flame of anger inside of him, but he knew how to deal with those by now. He simply thought about the cozy blanket at Levi’s place and how it felt having his hand against him. That small gesture had him fighting to not break into a smile throughout the entire episode. However, now the smile broke free at the memory of it.

The short girl with dark hair tied in a pony tail slightly frowned upon seeing Eren smiling and his eyes twinkling with love while he was viewing the pizza menu, and continued rigorously chewing down on her gum.

Eren ordered his usual pepperoni pizza and waited against the counter still swimming around in his happy place. He realized that for the past week his main source for calming down became Levi. He wasn’t kidding himself, he knew he was crushing on his roommate pretty hard. While making the first move came naturally to Eren, he felt unsure this time, as Levi was hard to read. But he figured tonight was the last night so he was going to fucking go for it. Eren imagined himself coming up to him bravely, just catching him by the collar of his shirt and straight up kissing him. The mere thought of the impact made Eren’s stomach churn and he was fighting not to smile again.

His buzzing phone shook him out of his hazy state. Eren naïvely thought it would be Levi, worried about where he was, but Levi wasn’t the kind of person to worry too much about anything. It was Marco instead.

“Hey, what’s up?” he answered casually. Though, his senses sharpened when he heard Marco panting on the other end and what sounded like an ambulance siren in the distance.

“Eren? Uh I’m sorry, you were the first person I thought to call. It’s Jean. He’s in trouble.” Marco blurted out in a shaky voice.

“What happened? Oh god, he got in a fight, didn’t he?” Eren rolled his eyes. That asshole just couldn’t stay out of trouble.

“He was attacked.” Marco contradicted. “I don’t know who they were, uh I think there was even a woman there, oh man they were tearing at his neck.”

“What? What? Slow down.” Eren hushed him down, standing up straight. Marco took a few breaths at the other end before saying.

“Okay, we were closing down the shop, and he went around it to take the trash out. When I locked everything up I started looking for Jean and I saw it happen oh god, I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Look, Marco, this isn’t the time to pull pranks.” Eren replied frowning and knowing quite well Marco hated prank calls and pranks overall. This just couldn’t be true.

“I’m not! Look Eren I’m really fucking scared, I’m in the ambulance with him right now.” Marco was on the verge of tears. “Eren, I’m not sure he’s gonna make it. There was so much blood.”

Eren didn’t doubt it now; he quickly asked which hospital and left the pizza place with his pepperoni still cooking. He ran to the nearest bus stop and with his heart about to jump out of his chest he called up Hanji. He felt his head slightly swimming, and he could barely focus on his surroundings. Why now? Who could’ve done it? Why Jean? The questions kept circling in his head while he was finding it hard to breathe.

He didn’t remember how he got to the hospital or when did Hanji get here, everything was happening in frames, while his emotions decided to throw a revolution inside of him. He just remembered seeing Jean being taken into the intensive care room and seeing the left side of his neck torn like it was bitten by a bear. Eren had to go to the bathroom to hurl after seeing that. He didn’t even notice Marco was there with him, making sure he was alright.

“Who could’ve done this?” Eren heard himself say as he got up from the floor of the bathroom.

“I don’t know who they were, there were 3 of them. Uhm there was a tall woman with brown hair and two other guys, one was really buff and blond, he was uhm doing most of the damage. They ran after they saw me.” Marco explained sitting them both down on the bench while Hanji was interrogating the doctors at the other end of the hallway. Marco seemed calmer now, most likely sensing that Eren would need his help.

Eren felt his stomach act up again. It was Ymir. Of course it was her. But why Jean? Why now? Wasn’t the danger supposed to be over? His chest felt heavy. It was his fault. He started all this, if it weren’t for him, none of this would’ve happened.

“Eren are you okay? Should I got get your meds?” Marco asked worriedly. His pills were at home, he barely used them anyway as he stopped having the anger fit episodes for a few years now. Eren simply shook his head out of instinct as he felt hot tears run down his cheeks. He saw Jean’s limp lifeless body being hooked up to even more machines when had stopped breathing for a minute. How could he have let something like this happen to his friend?

“It’s not your fault, please calm down. It’s my fault, okay? If I would’ve closed up sooner and gotten there earlier, Jean wouldn’t have gotten attacked.” Marco was trying to comfort him, he was good at that.

“No, if you would’ve gotten there earlier they would’ve attacked you too.” Eren simply shook his head. His head was getting heavier yet things seemed clearer. “It wasn’t your fault, nor was it mine. It was theirs.” He stated confidently looking at Hanji, who was on the phone.

Marco didn’t say anything, he was simply staring at him worriedly, but Eren was sure this time. Everything suddenly fell into place. His whole body was vibrating with energy, begging to be let out, it was already pulling on every muscle and making it seem like his head was going to explode. But he was sure. It was Levi’s fault, it had to be. They promised it was over. Maybe it was their plan all along? He should’ve fucking listened to Armin when he had the chance, he should’ve. He didn’t know what kind of people they were.

Eren wanted to cry, shout, punch someone or vomit again from the intensity of his emotions. Some part of his mind realized he was having a fit and tried to go back to the comfy place in his head with the blanket, Levi, the warmth and Buffy, but the fantasy made him even angrier. It was ruined, he could never go back to that. He shared a bed with the asshole who got his friend almost killed, he lusted after him.  

People kept rushing past him back and forth, but Eren couldn’t really focus. Marco was already gone yet he didn’t notice when it happened. He had gotten up from the fresh new benches nearby and came to stand in front of the glass room where Jean was. He couldn’t exactly say that he was his best friend, but they were definitely close. Despite the fact that they annoyed each other more than half of the time, Eren couldn’t imagine his life without Jean or Armin, or Mikasa, hell even Marco. They were a part of his life whether he wanted it or not. Sadly so was Levi and his two shady friends. But not for long. They were gonna fucking pay for what they did.

Eren kept imaging all the possible revenge schemes he could pull, he could go to the police, since Marco hadn’t filed a report… at least he thought so. Maybe he could sue them, he could betray them in all the possible ways.

His train of thought got disrupted by someone calling his own name and his heart seemed to stop for a second. Eren didn’t need to lift up his head to know who it was. That overly calm voice could only belong to one asshole.

The writer didn’t remember much of what he said to him afterwards. He sort of lost his mind overall the moment he lifted up his head and saw Levi physically standing there before him. The words kept pouring out one after another and he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted Levi to break down, he wanted him to be hurting the way Eren was hurting. It was only fair, why did he have to suffer alone? At one point when they somehow had gotten outside he could see that it was affecting Levi. He could see the guilt and hurt in his eyes, and his hands beginning to tremble, but he couldn’t stop. Yet, actually seeing Levi hurt didn’t bring him any satisfaction, it just made the strain on his muscles worse.

Then Eren was walking. He walked and walked for fuck knows how long. But with the energy surging through him he felt like he could easily walk to New Jersey and back. His black converse shoes and feet had gotten completely soaked from carelessly walking through puddles, but he had stopped caring. It was around 3am when he finally felt that his anger driven energy was starting to run out and he began heading home. His rage had gone away almost completely, though that didn’t change the strain he felt in his chest or the lump in his throat clogging everything up.

More and more he realized the reason his tears kept falling wasn’t because of Jean, though that was the main reason a slight while ago, but because he felt betrayed by Levi. He had put his trust in him and he wasted it. It was true that Levi did say Eren wasn’t just going to walk away from this easily, but he never imagined anything like this. The worst that came to his mind was maybe a lawsuit or maybe skipping town, but never something like this. He would’ve even preferred it if it was him lying on that bed, despite what Levi said. It was his mess, why did his friends have to suffer?

Sasha greeted him as usual, jumping around him and begging to be noticed. Eren shuffled inside feeling like a ghost, like he wasn’t really there and this wasn’t actually happening. Mindlessly he petted his dog and went to the bathroom to find his pills. Despite the clarity of knowing it was Levi’s fault, he knew he had problems dealing with stress and anger. Eren noticed how out of hand it was getting only when he couldn’t physically stop himself from yelling at Levi. Though he caught himself thinking why the hell should he had stopped? It was his fault, he needed to hear all of that, why was he feeling guilty?

His phone buzzed again and he fished it out of his jean’s pocket in record time, seeing if there was any news. It was a message from Hanji asking Eren to come to their place and that he needs to see something. Eren was too tired to throw his phone against the wall, but the flame of anger in his chest blazed again. The last thing he wanted to do was see Hanji or Levi or Erwin. He didn’t give a fuck what they wanted to say, they weren’t going to hear from him in a while.

Instead, Eren downed a few pills and lied down for a nap. He felt the meds finally start to kick in after a good half an hour of rolling around aimlessly between his blankets. Eren’s muscles slowly started to relax and he started to feel weak, drained, which finally allowed him to drift off into an uneasy slumber.

He awoke only a few hours afterwards, jumping out of a nightmare he couldn’t remember the moment he opened his eyes. There was sweat on his forehead and Sasha was next to him seconds after trying to comfort him. This time the writer ignored his pet and went around washing up and changing his clothes so he could go to the hospital again even though it was merely 6am.

There were a few more messages from Hanji urging him to come over, though not really explaining the reason why. There was even a missed call from Levi, which renewed the strain in Eren’s chest. Cursing under his breath he made his way back to the hospital to watch over Jean.

Upon entering the intensive care hallway Eren noticed though that Jean wasn’t there.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Jean Kirstein, he was in room 7 right here.” Eren asked a nurse who was passing by. The young nurse with short ginger hair and delicate face features turned her eyes towards the said room and frowned apologetically seconds after.

“I’m so sorry, but the man in that room passed away tonight.”

Eren’s eyes went wide and his heart was back to beating furiously.

“No no no, there must be some mistake, see, he was supposed to make it!” Eren argued. “He was stable when I left.” Eren pushed though he realized that he had no idea if he was stable at all. He was too preoccupied with his own drama. “Please look him up, Jean Kirstein, he must’ve been taken to another room.”

The nurse merely shook her head, avoiding looking Eren in the eye.

“I really am sorry, but I’m sure. I was there when the body was claimed by a family member, you should talk to them.” She suggested and walked away with her own business, leaving Eren standing there star struck. His friend was gone? That couldn’t have been it no. Eren felt himself start to freak out again, but the pills he took earlier were preventing him from having another fit or breaking down.

Eren stood there in the middle of the hallway for a few minutes not moving as the thought started to settle in. It felt like someone had come up to him and clumsily removed a piece of him and let him bleed out. He tried to remember the last time he had spoken to Jean. It was a phone call, Eren was asking his help again in moving the couch. Jean was reluctant at first, still not really trusting Levi and the others, but agreed to help nonetheless. Eren actually thanked him and promised to repay him with a bottle of beer as soon as he was done moving back.

That was when he felt the first salty tear run down his cold cheeks. How the fuck did it end up like this? All this time he was stressing over whose fault it was and Levi betraying him when he should’ve been here, watching over him until his family arrived…

Suddenly Eren’s head shot up. Jean’s parents weren’t here yet. He remembered that part clearly, Marco had told him that their plane was going to land only today in the afternoon so who the fuck claimed him? As if on cue, Eren’s phone buzzed again with yet another message from Hanji. This time Eren didn’t even bother reading it. He shot up from his seat so quickly he gave himself a head rush, but he didn’t care.

The writer’s stomach was churning in anticipation, curiosity and grief as he was making his way to Levi’s place. The streets were nearly empty, the morning chill was seeping through into the core of his bones but he didn’t give a shit. Levi had some answers and he fucking deserved to know them. The closer he got to the apartment the harder his heart was beating in his chest. Though his muscles stayed relaxed, he couldn’t strain them even if he had wanted to.

 He didn’t ring the bell, he didn’t knock, Eren straight up went through the front door like he had been living there for the past year and slammed the door behind him. The hallway was empty, but there was commotion behind Levi’s bedroom door. With a steady hand and quivering heart he pushed open the door in one swift moment only to see Hanji, Levi, Erwin and for some reason Armin as well in the room as if they were waiting for Eren to come along.

“Eren, are you alright?” Erwin was the first to ask, stepping up beside him. Eren ignored him though.

“What happened to Jean? And no bullshitting this time.” Eren demanded bossily. He looked at Armin, who was sitting on the bed, his eyes red and puffy. He clearly hadn’t gotten any sleep or food for the past hours. Everyone was silent for some reason, which wasn’t helping.

“Maybe you should sit down-“ Erwin began softly trying to reach for his arm, but Eren instinctively shook out of it.

“I don’t want to sit down, I want to find out what the fuck is going on.” Eren stated again. Erwin opened his mouth to speak, but Levi interrupted him.

“Quit treating him like a kid. If he wants to know, then he should.” He threw a glare towards Erwin and Eren frowned. There was some sort of inside disagreement between the two which he didn’t know. As of right now he didn’t know anything anyway.

“Is Jean actually dead?” Eren asked trying to remain bossy but his voice shook a little and the lump was clogging his throat again.

“Yes.” Levi answered curtly and Eren’s heart dropped. “And he’s even more annoying now than he was when he was alive.” Levi rolled his eyes. Eren frowned while Hanji stepped to the side revealing Jean sitting on his couch.

“’Sup.” Jean nodded at him while Eren gasped taking a step back. He was dressed in Erwin’s clothes which were slightly too big for him. Jean didn’t have a scratch on him, his hair was even neat. He seemed fine, alive and healthy, the only thing which struck out was his pearl white eyes.

 


	10. Vampires Will Never Hurt You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for being a day late again. The chapter is slightly shorter than my usual 5k standart, but I shorten them because I don't want to make you guys wait 2 weeks for a chapter, so I hope you don't mind this compromise. It's more of an information filler chapter. with the last chapters being all about action and emotions, I felt it was appropriate to have a slightly calmer one, explaining what the fuck even happened. Anyway, enjoy! oh and please check the bottom notes, I have an interesting proposition.

Levi’s POV

Eren’s eyes were distressed as he was staring at each and one of them, looking for answers. Hanji glanced at Levi, who merely nodded not even looking at her. This wasn’t exactly how they planned on doing this, but there wasn’t any point in sugarcoating it either. Hanji stepped away to reveal Jean sitting on Eren’s couch. The writer gasped, taking a step back and quickly left the room covering his mouth.

Levi instinctively moved from his spot to go after him, but Armin reached out his hand to stop him. Armin shook his head at him and Levi stayed in place, scoffing under his breath. Eren burst into the room a few moments after with a panicked look on his face.

“Okay what the fuck, what the fuck?! Are you guys fucking playing with me? Is this supposed to be some fucking prank and we’re all just going to have a big laugh?!” he yelled with new tears threatening to fall.

“Eren this isn’t a joke.” Erwin calmly stated.

“Then what the fuck is going on?!” Eren grabbed hold of his head, and this time Armin shot out of his seat to tend to his grieving friend, helping him sit down.

“Do you remember what I told you about Levi and the others? What I suspected them to be?” Armin asked trying to remain calm, but he was slightly shaking. Levi felt Jean tense up as Eren went past him. He turned his slightly shocked eyes to Levi.

“I know, it gets easier with time.” Levi said to him, while Jean nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat.

“What does?” Eren asked butting in. Levi shifted from one leg to another slightly uncomfortably, but he had to explain. There was no use in lying to him anymore.

“The smell…of your blood.” Levi started. “Your blood type is one of the rarest, an AB-. The rarer the blood, the sweeter it smells… And tastes.” Levi halted waiting for it to sink in with Eren, who was simply staring at him in disbelief. “Jean is new, his senses are sharper and he lacks control. Not to mention that he’s hungry.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Eren hushed barely above a whisper, having gone pale in the face. This time even Erwin was silent, which Levi was grateful for. He didn’t want Eren to be manipulated into accepting them, although it would’ve been easier, it wasn’t fair to him. He had to have the right to decide that for himself.

“You see the evidence before you, draw the conclusion yourself.” Levi said ever so calmly. Neither his face nor posture was giving away what he was really thinking, which was probably for the best. Eren stuttered on his words for a few moments and Jean rolled his eyes annoyed.

“C’mon, even I had realized it by then.” Jean clicked his tongue against his teeth impatiently and Eren grew still again. Levi figured he got a flash of Jean’s fangs, which he wasn’t able to control for now.

“Can’t be…” Eren muttered to himself shaking his head. “That’s fucking impossible. Do you seriously think you’re going to fool me with fake teeth and some contact lenses?!” Eren was getting fired up again.

“It’s all real, Eren.” Armin’s voice quivered. “I know all of this seems crazy, I didn’t want to believe it myself, but it’s true.”

Perhaps it was best that Armin was explaining this to Eren, since he went through the process a few hours ago himself. Though there was more crying than freaking out, of course for different reasons. Levi wouldn’t have been able to give him the same kind of comfort, firstly because he had never given anyone comfort and had no idea how it even worked, secondly Armin was after all human, and Eren’s friend, those were the two categories Levi didn’t belong to.

“You guys are all fucking crazy.” Eren shook his head. “So what, you’re saying that this twilight bullshit is real? How dumb do you think I am?”

Levi sighed. This was harder than he had thought. He shared a look with Hanji and Erwin who seemed to have been thinking the same thing. If Jean wasn’t enough of a visual proof, they’d have to give him more. Levi closed his eyes and thought about the last drink he had, how deliciously the thick blood swirled on his tongue, how the sweet texture warmed him from inside and left his taste buds craving for more. Saliva was already gathering from the hunger in Levi’s mouth, he felt his fangs prodding at his gums. He opened his mouth for Eren to see them physically extending on top of his human teeth, with the corner of his eyes catching his friends doing the same. Hanji’s irises were glowing the brightest, signaling that she hadn’t eaten in a few days and was considerably hungry. Levi knew she had trouble eating under stress.

Eren’s eyes grew wide and it seemed that he had stopped breathing for a moment. He grabbed hold of Armin’s arm and urgently stated.

“Armin, I think we need to get out of here.” He tried to pull him towards him, while slowly sliding towards the door. Levi finally saw the actual fear in his eyes, the look on his face as if they were monsters. Eren was finally seeing Levi for who he was. Suddenly there was a flash of the memory of having Eren’s neck so close to his mouth, breathing in his scent and wanting a taste. With almost a jolt, Levi’s teeth and eyes went back to normal as he felt another invisible kick in his stomach. He felt disgusting.

“No, it’s alright, they don’t mean us any harm.” Armin was quick to calm him down, trying to prevent him from getting up.

“We don’t know what we’re dealing with, these guys lied to us!” Eren fought back.

“Eren, please just let us explain everything.” Hanji pleaded this time, though Eren merely shot her a hurt look.

“C’mon, we have to go.” Eren kept pulling on Armin’s sleeve. Levi could see that Eren was at a loss of what to do. He remembered trying to run away from it all as well, when he realized who he had become. Maybe if he ran fast and far enough, it would go away.

“What about me then?” Jean suddenly stood up as everyone beamed with surprise at the newborn. “Are you that much of a selfish prick to leave your friend behind or a pathetic coward, too afraid to take me with you or at least give us the benefit of the doubt?” Jean stated confidently. Levi was mostly surprised he showed an IQ higher than a 3rd grader. With the right kind of vocabulary, he might even say he could make it to the 4th grader’s level. “If you’re not going to stay for them, stay for me. I know that I look different, but it’s still me.”

Eren froze in his spot, staring at the friend he ran all the way to find the answers about and slowly let go of Armin’s sleeve.

“What happened to you?” Eren asked quietly.

“Well it started when-“ Levi began.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Eren snapped. “You’re the reason he’s like this.” Levi’s left hand clenched the right one more tightly behind his back, so it wouldn’t start shaking again.

“No.” Armin’s frail voice broke through. “It was my fault.”

“Armin?” Eren turned to his friend confused. “Don’t be ridiculous, you had nothing to do with this!”

“But I did.” Armin contradicted with fresh tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “I know you told us not to get involved, but I still wanted to find out more, so me and Jean have been digging around on our own.” Armin was looking at the ground. He had spent about an hour apologizing to Jean and it took about half an hour for Hanji to calm him down. The kid was smart and he had guts, but he wasn’t cut out to lead an investigation like this, he couldn’t handle the responsibility of his actions. “We’ve been trying to track Ymir’s group down, get more information about them. Jean was successful, he had seen them a few times and started following them a few days ago. Right- right before it happened I got a text from Jean that he saw them and was going to follow them, finally find out where they live, but I guess it was a trap.” A few more tears rolled down the blonds’ cheeks, while Eren sat there frowning.

“Armin, it ain’t your fault.” Jean was repeating himself. “You didn’t tell me to go out and track them, I decided that for myself, I just got too careless with it.” The look on Jean’s face was sympathetic.

“So it wasn’t because of me.” Eren muttered to himself. “Or you.” He shyly lifted his head to Levi with a guilty look on his face.

“In the direct sense, no, but looking at the big picture-“

“It’s clear that everyone bears some sort of responsibility for how things are today, but neither of us is to blame entirely.“ Hanji finished Levi‘s sentence with a silencing look towards Levi.

“They were never human trafficers, were they?“ Eren asked  with a low chuckle, keeping his head down. It seemed he had calmed down or the amount of information was preventing him from freaking out. He needed to process everything first.

“No. They’re vampires, just like us.” Erwin assured. The room fell silent. It was the first time the actual word was used, which seemed to have made everything more concrete. It was out. No one was denying it. Now everyone was in the loop.

“This is so fucked up.” Eren sighed putting his head into his hands. “How can this be real? B-but Jean, they made you like that? What about your parents? The nurse said they claimed you, but- and…the sunlight thing. Of course that’s not a fucking thing how could I’ve been so dumb?”

“Eren, I know this seems too much for now, but will you let us explain how everything went from the very beginning?” Hanji asked cautiously. “No more lies.” She shook her head with confidence.

“Alright, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” He stated, glancing at Jean, who offered him a firm nod. “Just- before you start, are there any other supernatural creatures I should be aware of?” Eren asked slightly ironically. “I don’t know, fucking leprechauns, ghouls or oh god werewolves?”

The room fell silent again. Erwin, Hanji, and Levi were looking at one another unsurely. Levi closed his eyes, while Hanji perked up. Oh god no. Levi got through her theory cases once. It would be less painful to walk into broad daylight than to listen to that again.

“Oh my god, werewolves are real too?” Eren concluded from the silence.

“They might be, actually I’ve been researching, and I found-“ Hanji began to ramble slightly, but Erwin saw the chance and interrupted.

“There’s no actual proof of that. As far as we know, out of the supernatural, there’s only us.” He threw a warning look to Hanji, who frowned, shutting up.

From there on out Levi and his friends began retelling the entire story. The first night at the bar, how Ymir had tried to eat him and the danger Levi put them all in by interrupting. Then of course the blog post Eren made, and what actual significance it held. As immortal beings, they had to keep away from the public eye as much as possible. How they didn’t lie about the fact that they wanted to protect him from Ymir. Then of course about the offering of blood as a peace treaty, which lead to Ymir’s ultimatum. Eren threw a surprised glance at Levi when Erwin had finished explaining the policy they have on human exposure and Levi’s decision to keep him alive nonetheless.

“Which leads us to today’s events.” Erwin sighed. “We’re still not a hundred percent sure why Jean was attacked, but it is highly possible that they noticed that they were being watched and decided to take out the threat. There’s a high chance they don’t even know Jean is involved with you or with us.”

“But why did they want to make Jean into a- a vampire?” Eren asked, slightly stuttering on the last part.

“They didn’t.” Levi simply stated. “They meant to kill him and have some fun with it.” Armin winced at the words. “But because of the interruption they left him on the brink of death.”

“B-but I mean aren’t you supposed to drink the vampires blood too if you, y’know want to become one of them?” Eren asked unsurely and Levi had to roll his eyes and for some reason fight back a smile.

“This isn’t Buffy.” Hanji slightly laughed at the break of tension. “Though it would be great if we had a slayer on our side…or if I was the slayer.” She added to herself under her breath.

“For the last fucking time, slayers can’t be vampires.” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose impatiently. Why were they even talking about this?

“Well actually, in season 1 in the episode where people’s nightmares were coming true, for a while Buffy became-“ Erwin started all knowingly, but faded out noticing that everyone was gawking at him. Erwin coughed uncomfortably. What a fucking nerd, Levi thought. “Vampire bites work like snake bites in a way. The venom lies in our fangs. Once they penetrate the skin, and the subject stays alive for at least a few hours, the venom starts to take effect. The body essentially dies, but the venom brings the brain back to functioning and the heart to pumping venomous blood.”

“Once we saw that Jean was still breathing after the attack and started to have strange types of fevers we knew what was going to happen.” Hanji carried on. “I broke into his room, fiddled with the devices for a bit, which lead to the doctors pronouncing him as officially dead. Later on I claimed the body, posing as a relative. We couldn’t let him finish changing in the hospital. I mean you can imagine, everyone would have gone mad crazy in there.”

“Meanwhile, we were here, explaining to Armin what was going on and what’s about to happen.” Levi continued. He didn’t want to add that there was essentially no explaining needed. The kid had figured almost everything out on his own, he even had a feeling about the blood offering going down. Most of the time they were calming him down because he thought and still believed that it was his fault. Levi straight up told him that yes, a large part of it was his fault. He earned a good swing from Hanji to the back of his head, but he didn’t understand why. The kid needed to learn to take responsibility, what was the use in lying to him?

“When we got Jean here, we were left with two options, either kill him or let him finish turning.” Erwin continued. “Armin refused to take part in the decision making, so we put it to a vote. Levi was the only one who voted against it.”

“Why?” Eren immediately asked.

“Because dying is less burdening than living forever.” Levi simply stated.

“That’s fucking bullshit.” Jean contradicted. “I mean I never get to die, how fucking cool is that?” he exclaimed excitedly and Hanji smiled, but Levi knew that this hype was going to pass after a few decades.

“How long have you guys been alive?” Armin perked up shyly. Eren seemed completely calm now. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe Hanji’s theory could work out.

“From the 16th century.” Erwin answered humbly.

“I don’t know.” Hanji shrugged to which both Armin and Eren frowned.

“Almost 2 hundred years.” Levi added last and for a moment it seemed Eren was going to faint. Alright so maybe it was still a bit too early to make these kind of assumptions.

“Holy shit.” Jean muttered shaking his head. “So you were alive during world wars and stuff, oh my god, so do you know if the moon landing thing was real or not?” he asked excitedly.

“Just because we were alive doesn’t mean we were lining up to be Hitler’s right hands.” Levi dropped sarcastically. “We did what any other sensible person did at those times, fled and tried to stay safe.”

“Pft, how boring.” Jean frowned with a disappointed look. Levi was planning out on how to make it seem like he punched him in the face on accident.

“I think we covered just about everything.” Erwin concluded ignoring Jean’s comments. “Eren, I know we’re asking a lot here, but as you can understand, this isn’t over. We need to fix this somehow and we need all the help we can get.” Levi gave him a warning look, but Erwin didn’t cross the line on persuasion.

“I understand this is a very difficult situation.” Eren said after a pause. “But you guys lied to me from day one, about everything! You’re fucking vampires for god’s sake, you’ve killed people…” he added the last part almost as a question, lifting his eyes to them.

“Yes. It’s part of who we are.” Erwin nodded grimly.

“I don’t think I want anything to do with you.” Eren shook his head. This time Armin was the one who perked up.

“Eren, it’s not just about you!” the blond shouted with a fierce look in his blue eyes. “I know you’re angry and confused, and its making you forget you’re not in this mess alone.” Eren frowned at the sudden outburst of his friend. “Every single one of thinks of themselves as the main character in this story, but that doesn’t mean everything has to revolve around us. We got in this mess because we made bad choices, _all_ of us! So everyone has to bear the consequences, so just-“ Armin’s voice shook a little “get your head out of your ass!”

The room was silent in awe of Armin’s outburst. Levi was personally feeling proud. He told Eren everything he needed to hear, without making him go into an anger fit.

“I guess you’re right.” Eren agreed, which only furthered Levi’s confused amazement. “I guess everyone does think of themselves as the main character.” He stopped to think, looking around the room at every single one of them. Everyone had their stories, drama’s and were equally involved in all of this. “Alright.” He concluded with a sigh. “I just want to make it clear that I don’t trust you or in any way am doing this for you.” He threw a glare towards the vampires. “But my friend is in trouble, and I’m partly responsible for this so there’s no other choice.” He was talking mainly to himself.

“Thank you.” Erwin nodded with a small smile.

“So where do we start?” Armin asked, trying to suppress his excitement and eagerness.

“Well it’s pretty obvious.” Jean stated confidently while standing up from his seat. “We go show those assholes who they’re dealing with.” He smirked smugly.

“Sit your ass down, you brat.” Levi rolled his eyes. “First we have to take care of your sorry ass and get you fed. You’re weaker than a kitten right now.”

“You mean I have to kill someone?” Jean asked with wide eyes, all of his previous bravado gone.

“Not necessarily.” Erwin contradicted. “You have the option of drinking out of a blood bag like me and Hanji.”

“Oh I think I still have some leftovers at the bar.” Hanji remarked. Eren seemed to have noticed that Erwin left Levi out of the group and was staring at him with curious eyes. Meanwhile Jean was trying to process the fact that he had to drink actual human blood. Erwin and Hanji seemed to have noticed his distressed look as well.

“Or I can do that later.” Hanji added, trying to change the subject.

“Yes I guess that could be put off for a little while longer.” Erwin agreed.

“So then what’s next?” Eren asked looking up at them.

“We deal with horseface’s parents.” Levi sighed. “Deliver the news and such, and then we bury him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION LOVELIES: I have an idea. I have a lot of additional info on this fanfic, I have written down each characters' bakstories (Even the ones that won't be revealed in the fic) and I do some character analysis of my own to understand how would they react under different circumstanses and to help me understand the way these characters think as well as the vampire headcanons i use in this fic. My question to you is, would you be interested in having access to this information. I would post them on my blog under a tag like 'vampfic' or such (as it would be difficult to do this here) and let this information out at the appropriate times. Also I could update on when I plan on publishing the next chapter or if there are some difficulties and I need more time, or i would answer your questions etc. If you guys would be interested in this, I would start from the next chapter and start letting the additional information out bit by bit.


	11. The Dead Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I'm a day late, but this time the chapter is a bit longer so I hope you'll forgive me. anway IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS: since you have shown interest, from this chapter i'm going to start posting additional information on the fic on my blog http://mamabro.tumblr.com/, more specifically i guess, it'll all be under this tag http://mamabro.tumblr.com/tagged/vampfic, i will start releasing the information tomorrow (i think I'll start with Hanji's backstory) and updates on my progress and estimated release dates will also go there as well, i'll try to update the tag at least every few days.  
> Anyway, as always, enjoy! (also, the story is reaching 200 kudos aaaaaaaah thank you!)

“You know this is the last time right?” Levi asked attempting to sound sympathetic. “We’re already risking it as it is, but I get it. You just have to remember you can’t ever see them again.”

“I know that!” Jean snapped at him and turned back to the small window of the funeral home. It was fogged up and hidden from the side with a vase, so it was almost impossible to see who was looking through it. Though, Jean could see his family standing over his closed casket perfectly. Jean clenched his fists tightly, Levi could hear his muscles tense up and the little blood he had in him pumping faster. He glanced through the window and saw that Jean’s mother was back to kneeling near the casket and crying her eyes out while his father hadn’t moved from his seat at the corner of the small hall for the last few hours. Levi took a few steps back, allowing Jean to have his moment of closure.

They were already behind schedule, but Levi really did get it. He would’ve killed to have a moment like this when he turned. Even if it were to see his family grieving, he’d still see them. Now he could barely remember what his mom looked like, at least his sister’s image was easier to recreate.

Jean pushed himself away from the window with force and marched over to Levi.

“All done?” he made sure. Jean merely nodded not lifting up his eyes from the ground.

“I don’t get what’s the big deal if I check up on them like this every now and again.” Jean muttered under his breath after they had left the area. Meanwhile Levi was texting Hanji so that she would start to head to the gym. Erwin had booked the entire floor for them tonight.

“You gotta learn to let it go. Your human life. The faster you do that, the quicker you’ll fit in with your undead life. It seems innocent enough I know, but you’ll start thinking about them more and more. How maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if you helped them out somehow, make sure they’re happy. Pretty soon you’ll start thinking it might not be a bad idea to come back into their life.” Levi stopped walking, turning to Jean with an urgent look. “You’ll start thinking you’re a live human being. From now on, you’re neither alive, nor human.”

“Geez okay, did anyone ever tell you you’re a drama queen?” Jean scoffed, going back to his usual self bit by bit.

“Geez, did anyone ever tell you to shut up?” Levi replied sarcastically. By this point it would’ve been easier if Eren’s dog had somehow become a vampire rather than Jean. The newborn frowned, but didn’t retort back until after the gym came into their view.

“So, are you guys going to teach me some sort of secret vampire kung-fu shit?” Levi took a deep breath of the fresh air after sundown to calm down.

“It’s just basic self-defense, so we won’t have to save your ass every time you get in trouble.”

“Hey, I already became a vampire, what other kind of trouble could I get into?” Jean asked with and incredulous look on his face. “Does this mean…I’m sort of with your group now or whatever you call it?” he added a bit shyly.

“For now. Until you get the hang of this.” From now on Levi was babysitting two little kids.

“And then what?” Jean asked quietly, pushing the glass door and stepping into the large building. “You’re gonna kick me out?” he added a laugh to hide the fact that he was genuinely worried about that.

“Then you’re free to do whatever the fuck you want.” Levi chose his words carefully.

The vampire scanned the empty locker room with a bored look. Erwin and Hanji were already in the gym. Levi took out his usual tight black tank top and comfortably loose shorts. This was his small chance to slightly beat up the newborn and blame it on his inexperience and lack of fighting skills. Levi had been itching for some kind of release for weeks now.

However, upon walking inside the gym Levi saw that Eren and Armin were there as well, already in their sporty clothes and doing stretches.

“I decided it would be a good idea to include Eren and Armin in this as well.” Erwin explained noting Levi’s confused look. “Everyone should know their basic self-defense skills.”

“Fine.” Levi shrugged. He guessed Erwin was right. He was still reluctant to admit this stuff, but he’d feel safer knowing Eren had some skills to protect himself.

“Since there’s three of us, and three unofficial students, we should pair up.” Erwin clapped his hands together. “I can pair up with Armin.” The blond gulped quietly. “Eren- uh, you could-“ Hanji attempted to subtly nudge Erwin on his side, but Levi noticed the small movement nonetheless. “Yes with Levi, which leaves Jean and Hanji.”

“Really? The girl?” Jean asked, frowning disappointedly. Levi caught the small flash in her eyes. Oh boy Jean was in for a big surprise then.

“Don’t worry.” Hanji said cheerfully, seemingly ignoring his slightly offensive comment. She swung her arm over his shoulders. “We’re gonna have fun.” She smiled, while squeezing her arm around his neck just enough to get Jean alarmed at the sudden pressure. Hanji’s eyes were gleaming that of a maniac.

All of them went into different smaller rooms on the floor, to not get distracted by one another. Erwin and Armin took the main room with all the workout equipment, Hanji and Jean went into the aerobics room nearby, while his and Eren’s was a smaller extension of the main room, with a few old benches and a bunch of weights. They pushed all the main weights and other equipment to the sides of the room, so they’d have the space to train.

Levi had a hunch why Hanji pushed that he’d be teamed up with Eren, he thought as he saw the kid walk into the room, avoiding looking at him. For the last three days Eren had been doing a great job at ignoring Levi’s presence while discussing various things with Erwin and Hanji. Every single meeting. He had gotten so good at it, he managed to not even make eye contact. Levi was irritated as hell because of this, that was why he was hoping for a good fight with Jean. Eren seemed to have forgiven Erwin and Hanji almost the next day, and even if he hadn’t forgiven them, he had at least decided to overlook it for the sake of cooperating. Why couldn’t he do the same to him?

“You know I’m going to be teaching you to fight, it would be helpful if you would at least look at me.” Levi remarked sort of ironically. Eren didn’t say anything in return, but he lifted his eyes at him. They seemed indifferent, like he was staring at a complete stranger. Levi sighed, somehow that just made him even more annoyed.

“Okay let’s start with what I already know about your fighting.” He started, taking a few steps closer to him. “You’re fast, you’ve got above average reflexes and determined passion behind your hits.” Eren raised his chin barely visibly at the praise. “However, you’re too reckless, the same passion that drives you becomes your weak point because you lose focus of your opponent. You lack coordination and your moves are often predictable.” Levi caught the flash of anger behind Eren’s eyes, yet he still remained silent. “Obviously, I can’t teach you everything, but what I’m going to show you is at least where to aim and how to block. If you’re facing a guy, the obvious choice is to go for the groin, but of course it’s not always a convenient place to hit, and your opponent might be a woman.”

Levi took a few steps closer, slightly invading Eren’s personal space. He took Eren’s hand and brought his finger to his own stomach.

“In that case, you can go for the solar plexus. Feel that? It’s the little hole right below my ribcage. Although it’s quite difficult, but one good and most importantly direct hit to this spot can leave your opponent gasping for air or even suffocating.” Levi smelt Eren’s blood slightly rushing and moments later saw his cheeks turn a bit pinkish. “Although it may seem tempting to go for the eyes or nose, stay clear of the face if you’re facing a vampire. They’ll bite your hand off before you can blink. Instead go for the knees. Human or not, we’ll still lose coordination.” Levi explained by giving a moderate nudge from his leg to the side of Eren’s knee, making him stumble to the side slightly. “Same goes for the shin or instep. If you’re facing a vampire, your best chance is to trip them, make them temporarily fall, maybe serve an elbow to the back and then run for your life.” Eren frowned. Levi knew by now that giving up on something or doing something half-assed was going against everything Eren believed in.

“So what, there’s no way to actually injure you?” Eren finally spoke with a hint of annoyance, which Levi didn’t understand.

“Vampires are different, we have much higher pain tolerance and prolonged stam-“

“I don’t want to know the details.” Eren cut him off. It seemed he didn’t want to accept this was real, which Levi found strange. It’s been 3 days, surely that was enough time, wasn’t it?

“It’s possible for us to be killed, but it’s not easy.” Levi finished nonetheless. Eren looked down at the ground once again, but kept his mouth stubbornly shut. “Okay that was brief theory, now the practice. Try and attack me.” Levi took a few steps back, while Eren lifted his head with an unsure expression. This time there was going to be nothing playful about their little fight, it was training.

Eren threw a few punches to Levi’s stomach as he had showed, but Levi simply blocked them. Then instead he tried to go for the legs, however, Levi saw what he was going to do seconds before he did it and dodged the hits.

“You’re going to try harder than that.” Levi remarked. His attacks lacked energy and passion, with every blocked hit he seemed to pause and contemplate more instead of going determinedly after him like last time. Eren tried the same attacks again with slightly more speed, but it wasn’t enough. Afterwards he tried to mix it up, try to give more force to his hits and some other tactics but it still didn’t come close to how he fought with him before.

Levi was starting to get agitated. He tripped Eren, making him fall on his ass. Finally, he saw some sort of reaction. It was slight, but it was still there. Levi adjusted his shorts and motioned for Eren to attack again. This time, with every missed or blocked hit, Levi would serve one back and pretty soon Eren fell to the ground for the third time already.

“Is that seriously all you can do? If it came down to a real fight, you’d be a bloodless corpse by now. Stand up. Again.” Levi provoked him. Eren merely frowned, but it didn’t have much effect on his attacks as he ended up on the ground again. It seemed that Levi was getting more fired up than Eren. He couldn’t fucking explain it, but with every unsure hit from Eren he felt angrier.

Eren went for an aimless hit to the chest and Levi caught his wrist right before it hit him, soon his left hand followed, but Levi caught it as well.

“Weren’t you angry about all this? About how fucked up the world is?” Levi teased up and close to Eren’s face. Eren clenched his jaw. “Weren’t you angry at me? Cause I don’t see it.” The vampire sneered. “All I see is a wimpy kid, who can’t make a hit.” Eren was struggling to break free from Levi’s grasp, his muscles tensing up more and more.

“So you are angry? Then why don’t you show it? You have the perfect chance to show just how fucking angry you are and let me have it.” Levi let his wrists go, pushing the kid away from him with force so he almost fell to the ground again. He took a few steps back and extended his hands to the sides as if to show that he was defenseless.

Eren’s face became stern and finally, fucking finally, he was starting to see Eren’s mask slipping off. The kid went after him with a few reckless hits that Levi was able to block easily yet again, but at least he felt the force of them. Eren was starting to work up a sweat, while Levi was merely warming up.

“That’s still not enough, you’re forgetting what I told you at the beginning.” Levi instructed. “You’re not giving me all you got.” He pushed. “Do you really think it’s a coincidence that everyone you write about ends up dead?” He asked suddenly and saw Eren frown from the sudden change of topic. “Didn’t you notice the pattern? Every single one of the attacks, different in style but had one thing in common.” Levi explained coming to stand closer to him. “They all had an immense amount of blood loss. Who do you think killed them?” he asked almost in a whisper. That was it. He used his trick card and now definitely everything was out in the open. Eren was staring at him with wide eyes and Levi’s side of the brain began doubting whether it was a good idea to say that. It was going to bring them apart even further. For some reason that thought scared him.

Eren went after him with new force, aiming a few hits to his chest and stomach which Levi blocked again, and then an unexpected kick he didn’t foresee landed on the side of his knee making him stumble to the side. This time he didn’t even have to pretend he lost his balance. Eren didn’t waste time and went after him while he was disoriented, but Levi was able to avoid a punch to his solar plexus by a mere second by moving out of the way. Eren didn’t stop there though, he kept coming after him with one hit and kick after another until Levi had to actually start moving backwards from his attacks. He was fired up, releasing every punch and kick with a muffled sound and grunting when they got blocked.

“Not quick enough, don’t lose your balance, I said don’t throw your punches recklessly.” Levi kept correcting him after every another attack. “You can do better. C’mon, there’s a reason why you’re mad at me the most and I’m not seeing it!” The words were leaving his mouth without thinking as he was actually putting effort to block this kid. “You’re treating Erwin and Hanji like before, but you couldn’t even look at me while we were in the same room, how am I different?!” Levi heard himself almost yell. That was when Eren suddenly kneed him directly in his solar plexus. While Levi was finding the air to breathe Eren took hold of Levi’s shoulders and slammed him against the nearby wall with a loud thud.

“How can you even ask that?!” he screamed out using his forearm to press on his neck, holding Levi in place.  

“Is it because I’m a monster?” Levi gritted through his teeth, because that was the truth behind him. It didn’t matter if he ran away, killed people or lived off blood bags, nothing changed the fact that he was something even hell wouldn’t want to take. However, Eren merely frowned confused.

“You think I’m mad at you because you’re a vampire?” Eren asked with an outrageous face. This time Levi was confused as well. Wasn’t…wasn’t that the whole point of his silence treatment? While trying to order his thoughts in his head, a fresh smell hit all of his senses at once like a wave, drowning any other thought he had in his head.

“You’re bleeding.” Levi immediately stated. Eren frowned and looked down where he saw his sock getting stained with fresh blood, slowly flowing from a wound in his ankle. The kid’s eyes widened, he took a few quick steps back and raised his head immediately to Levi. His gaze wasn’t scared though, more like shocked. The angry tension between them faded.

“I’m not going to eat you, kid.” Levi calmed him down, trying to regain his posture and control of himself. Though he was still wheezing from the hit to his stomach.

“I know.” Eren quickly answered. Levi didn’t buy it though.

“When you walk into a shop, even if you’re really really hungry, you don’t just start devouring everything you can get your hands on, do you? Being a vampire isn’t much different. Just because we’re hungry doesn’t mean we lose all self control.”

“But it’s still awful standing close to uhm let’s say fresh baked goods when you’re hungry.” Eren excused himself.

“Well luckily, I had a big lunch, so I’m fine.” The vampire took the first aid kit from the little cabinet in the corner. “Sit down.” He instructed him, coming to sit on the bench by the wall as well. Eren extended the leg on his bench, while Levi searched for the disinfectant in the first aid kit.

“I can do it myself.” Eren said reaching for the disinfectant and the cotton ball, but as he leaned forward, more blood gushed out of the wound.

“No, lean back. You’re straining the muscles in your leg, which is making the bleeding worse.” Levi instructed, pushing him back by his shoulder. The smell was tickling his nose and teasing his throat by imagining how it would feel if the blood ran down it. Yet he didn’t feel his fangs prodding at his gums or his eyes changing color. Despite the delicious smell, he had no desire to actually taste it.

As he had calmed down, Levi had to admit he pushed too far with Eren. Somehow by trying to extract more passion and anger from him, he started feeling the same things as well.

Levi expertly cleansed the wound, feeling Eren’s eyes on him. It was a relatively small cut, but a deep one. Eren must’ve brushed against a nail which was sticking out from the bench, but due to the thick skin on the ankle, he didn’t feel a thing. However, now that he was aware of it and felt the burn of the disinfectant, he frowned from the discomfort.

“It doesn’t hurt much, I can still train.” Eren broke the silence first, while Levi was bandaging up the wound.

“It’s fine, we can practice blocking another time.” Levi stared at the white bandage getting slightly pinkish from the blood and he wrapped around another layer. “Do you hate me, Eren?” he asked quite casually. He hated the fact that his heartbeat had slightly accelerated as the silence after the question dragged on.

“No.” Eren finally answered, but it sounded like he was sure. “In a way, I think I get why you had to keep your secret away from me and the others, and I guess I do believe you were trying to protect me.” He went on not looking at the vampire, while Levi sighed in relief. “But just because I understand the reasoning, doesn’t mean everything's alright. I’m not mad at you because you’re a vampire, some part of me thinks you didn’t really have a say in that, nor do I think you’re a monster.” Eren frowned like the whole idea sounded ridiculous. “I’m mad that Jean had to get hurt for the truth to come out, I’m mad that fucking Armin figured it out before me, while _I_ was the one living with you.” Eren let out a short laugh at the irony. “But mostly I’m mad that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me sooner.” Both of them continued sitting on the bench after Levi had finished bandaging up the cut to stop the bleeding.  

“Wouldn’t you have reacted the same way though?” Levi prodded. He knew that telling Eren the truth was going to be ugly either way, of course this just happened to be the ugliest way of all.

“I don’t think so.” He frowned, not sure of himself. “I know for a fact I wouldn’t have said all those things to you at the hospital.” He added quietly. “I’m sorry about that. Despite everything, my actions there were still not very cool. It’s just that when the anger took over I couldn’t-“

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Levi cut him off. He didn’t get why he was apologizing either, everything he said on that night was true.

“Did you really kill those people?” Eren asked almost in a whisper after a while, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Eren asked almost innocently.

“I believe we already had this conversation a while back.” Levi smiled slightly.

“You thought they deserved to die because of their crimes.” Eren answered his own question. “Are you going to keep killing them?”

“I’ve got enough blood saved up to last at least a few weeks-“

“That’s not what I meant.” Eren interrupted looking at him. Levi thought it over in his head. With Eren’s blog gone, he’d have to find a new source, but even then he didn’t particularly felt the enthusiasm for it.

“I don’t know. Probably.” Levi shrugged even though he really had no idea.

“I wish that you wouldn’t.” Eren barely whispered, but Levi still turned his head toward him. “I know that it’s just my word against yours. God knows you’ve been alive long enough to figure out the meaning of life and stuff.” Eren laughed darkly. “But they’re still people. Unlike you they’ve got only one short life, they’ve got to figure out their mistakes and have a chance at fixing them.” Levi scoffed with an ironic smile.

“And what about ‘mistakes’ on a scale as large as mine? Are you saying that if I repent or some shit, I’ll be saved?”

“You’re making it sound like it’s a religious thing.” Eren frowned and looked at him thoughtfully. “I stand by what I said before, everyone deserves a second chance.” He stated confidently, and Levi felt a shortness of breath, which he didn’t believe had anything to do with the kick in his stomach. “But see, that’s why I can’t trust you, I still don’t know so much about you or the whole vampire world. I have no idea what other things lie in your past.”

“Hey! Is the- whoa, Eren are you bleeding?” Hanji suddenly burst into the room and immediately took a step back from the strength of the smell. By now, Levi had almost gotten used to it. Levi could see the main room as well, where Armin was panting while sitting on a bench, while Erwin had also suddenly lifted up his head to their direction. Levi slightly shook his head, and Erwin nodded, going back to Armin.

“Oh yeah I was, it’s fine, I’m all patched up now.” Eren replied, turning his ankle to show where the wound should be.

“Whoa, it got pretty rough in here huh?” She asked suggestively winking at Levi, while the vampire wished he could set her on fire just by looking at her. “That reminds me, the first aid kit is here right?” she asked pointing to the small box beside Levi.

“Yeah, why do you need it? How’s it going with horseface?” Levi asked seemingly conversationally, but when he brought the box to her, he made sure to step on her foot extra hard. “Oops, sorry.” He remarked as Hanji slightly gasped in pain. 

“Ah, that’s sort of why I need this.” Hanji scratched the back of her head and looked to the side guiltily. “I kind of knocked him out, it was on accident though!” she was quick to explain herself. Meanwhile Eren started to laugh lightly. Levi looked at him surprised, he didn’t expect Eren to be laughing at a time like this.

“What? Vampire or not, Jean had it coming.” Eren shrugged, and Levi had to agree.

“I guess I don’t know my own strength sometimes.” Hanji shrugged smiling as well, glad that Eren hadn’t freaked out.

“You really don’t.” Levi agreed.

About ten years ago when he had only recently met Hanji there was a small uprising of the vampires living near them. Erwin made it his duty to stop it, or at least control it a bit so that innocent people wouldn’t get hurt. Naturally Levi went as well and Hanji had come as well. She wasn’t living with him permanently then, she just wanted to help out. The uprising had gotten uglier than they thought, since one of the vampires had a silver dagger. In the end though, he got stabbed by it himself. Their task was to mainly injure the ones causing the most damage and neutralize the threat for now. Levi was at that time unsure of Erwin’s decision to take Hanji along, since she didn’t seem to know how to fight. But what he saw on the battlefield made him remember not to get on the bad side of Hanji Zoe, because he wasn’t sure that even he could take her. She roamed the battlefield like it was her playground, facing her opponents with a big smile like it was her next exciting ride. While Levi went for breaking their necks and spines to make them unable to move for the time being, Hanji went on to ripping out arms, legs and any other body parts she could find. She may have not had any technical training, but she was a natural savage. 

“I think we’re gonna wrap up for the night.” Levi announced standing up. “In any case, Eren should get out of here before Jean wakes up.” While he, Hanji and Erwin were perfectly able of controlling themselves, they couldn’t guarantee the same for Jean.

“Yeah that’s a good idea.” Hanji nodded approvingly. “And uhm-“ she fidgeted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, but I overheard Eren’s last sentences about not understanding anything about us, and I was just thinking, that maybe it would help if I could explain those things? Just so you could understand how vampires work in general.” She asked shyly, but Eren seemed to have perked up.

“Yeah, I think that would be helpful.” He nodded enthusiastically. Oh god maybe Levi should have stopped him, or at least warned him about what he signed up for. Fuck it, let him learn the lesson himself.

“Oh okay that’s great! You can come by tomorrow after the funeral! Or… I don’t know, maybe it’s not appropriate right after a funeral? But it’s a fake one after all.” She was back to talking to herself.

“Tomorrow is fine.” Eren merely smiled.

“Awesome! Okay I’ll have to get my notes from the closet.” She said to herself walking away towards the aerobics room. Levi was however barely holding in his laughter.

“What is it?” Eren asked frowning.

“You’ll see tomorrow.” Levi stated all-knowingly, walking out with him back to the locker rooms.


	12. Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha I remember the times i put thought into my chapter titles, now I just write down the first word that pops into my head. If you're interested in additional information on the fic, I post it on my blog here http://mamabro.tumblr.com/tagged/vampfic Anyway, new chapter is here, as always I'm really sorry for any typos and such as I don't get along with proofreading. I hope you guys like it as much as my friend did, enjoy!

No matter how many times Levi explained it to Jean, he was still insisting on going to his own funeral. Levi felt he simply had no other alternative except for locking him in the apartment. These were the days he missed having Eren as his roommate, even if he sulked on the couch all day long. It was heaven compared to having Jean as his bunk buddy.

He was calming himself that soon Jean would have to leave his room, and not only the room, but the city as well. They hadn’t told him this yet, but it was fairly obvious. To survive you need money, to get money you need a job (or to be a heartless asshole like Levi and steal it off dead people) and as for now Jean had no chance whatsoever of getting a job in a city where he had relatives and friends, who thought he was dead. He would have to skip town for at least a decade or so and start fresh there. But anyone with a brain could make the obvious conclusion that this needed to happen, which was why Levi was dreading the day when they’ll have to break it down for him.

The vampire took out his umbrella and started walking towards the cemetery. It was one of those rare days when it was raining all day long, meaning Levi could handle being outside at least for a few hours. The fact that he had an umbrella helped as well. He saw the city during the day perhaps a few times a year, and every single time he felt happy he didn’t have to see this view every day.

Everything was grey and mundane, lots of people rushing past, too involved in their own person bubble of everyday bullshit to have time for anything else. He hated how the world looked during the day. Levi would choose the quietness, mystery and danger of the night any time. But then again, maybe the world looked different in sunlight? Some part of him still held vague memories of the morning sunlight gently caressing his skin. However, imagining sunlight now made him slightly flinch. It was kind of like watching someone on TV getting kicked in the balls, you don’t physically feel it, but you know fucking well how much it would hurt.

As the little wooden church came into his view, Levi saw another figure dressed in black heading in the same direction. His shoulders were slumped and his hair and clothes were already soaked from the rain.

“You’re going to get sick you idiot.” Levi remarked catching up to Eren, shielding him from the rain with his umbrella.

“I’m fine, I rarely get sick.” Eren shrugged.

“So you decided to test mother nature until you get pneumonia?” Levi retorted sarcastically.

“No, I just know I won’t get sick, I don’t mind the rain anyway.” He added with a little smile. “What about you? I thought being outside during the day was lethal- oh uhm…” Eren cut off upon actually looking at Levi for the first time.

“What?” Levi asked not understanding his penetrating gaze.

“It’s strange seeing you in an actual suit.” Eren eventually stammered, looking at him curiously. Levi didn’t blame him, he felt awful in it. He was already missing his heavy leather jacket and worn out jeans.

“Don’t get used to it. I’m just wearing it to fit in with the masses. I’m not enjoying it either.” Levi fidgeted uncomfortably in his jacket.

“No, I mean it uhm… never mind.” Eren shook his head as if to physically get away from his thoughts. “So you can go out at day?” he asked again.

“Yeah, at least while it’s not sunny, but I won’t go into detail. Hanji will be disappointed if you already know this stuff.”

“Right.” He nodded. The both of them walked the rest of the way to the cemetery in silence, yet it was comfortable. More than comfortable, it felt calm, like they’ve known each other for years instead of almost a month. This was one of the feelings Levi couldn’t explain logically and it was making him edgy. It felt so human, feeling something just because you feel it. Perhaps Eren’s humanity was rubbing off on him as well. However that was just his end of the stick, he still felt a great deal of restriction and distance from Eren. It was going to take more than physical training to make him open up.

Once they actually started walking through the graves, simple and humble, tall and fancy, old and fresh, he felt Eren tense up beside him. Levi frowned confused until he realized there were probably people he knew and loved buried here…Meanwhile, Levi didn’t even know where his family was buried or if his old house or even old town was still there. Frankly, Levi didn’t want to think about it. That was his human life, it didn’t matter anymore. 

“It feels so weird.” Eren broke the silence first. Levi didn’t resist the urge to step on a crunchy looking fallen leaf before asking.

“What does?”

“I used to visit this place a lot, this is where Mikasa’s parents are buried. It would slightly amaze me walking through graves where the date of death was like before I was even born. For my tiny mind it was hard imagining that someone lived their life and was now buried deep in the ground without me witnessing that person’s existence. Now I realize that you’re probably older than the entire cemetery, yet you’re walking right beside me.” Eren explained keeping his head down, a sad smile playing on his lips. “It’s a bit overwhelming.”

“Yeah.” Levi managed to answer. “I actually felt the same for a while about Erwin. It passes after some time, you stop thinking about it.” Levi decided empathy would be his best move.

They were slowly approaching a large gathering of people at the edge of the cemetery, standing around a deep hole. Levi was surprised to see so many people. Who knew so many cared about horseface? Jean’s parents glanced over to the slightly late guests, but didn’t give any signs of recognition. Their faces were pale and drained; only their eyes were puffy and red from endless crying. They were staring at the empty coffin as if they wished they were the ones lying in it. Even Levi in his feeding state would look more human than those two did.

“If anybody asks, I’m yours and Jean’s friend from work or something.” Levi hushed quietly to Eren, who nodded curtly before going off to express his condolences to Jean’s parents.

Levi stood a bit further back from the main masses, so that less people would remember his face. To be honest he didn’t even have to come here today, but part of him was curious. He had never been to an actual funeral before. When he was little there were a few people around him that died, no one too close to their family so Levi didn’t really experience true grief in his human life. He never went to the funerals as well.

He had to conclude from his current observations that this was a fucked up view. Even without the shitty weather it seemed like there was a large black cloud looming over the entire mass of people, threatening to break down into a shower any minute. It was the most depressing thing he had ever seen. The vampire also couldn’t deny the pang of guilt he felt in his chest, because Jean was still breathing and they were spilling their tears over an empty coffin.

How many people would go to his own funeral? Levi suddenly thought. He had lived ten times longer than Jean and yet it would be miraculous if Erwin and Hanji would show up. He would end his life the same way he had lived it, not leaving much of a trace. Eren caught his eyes, he was trying to comfort Jean’s mother who was back to sobbing over the coffin, which was being lowered into the ground. Would he bother showing up? Levi shook his head. There was a much higher possibility that Levi would be the one to go to Eren’s funeral than vice versa. Somehow that wasn’t a very comforting thought.

The longer Levi lingered there the more he felt like he was intruding on something deeply personal. He didn’t really belong there, so without further ado he left the scene. Besides, he was outside for more than an hour now, he was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Levi was surprised to come back to a silent home. He sort of expected to deal with a raging Jean, but the newborn was soundly sleeping on the couch. With his undead body requiring more sleep than his human body did, there was a tendency for him to suddenly pass out. He heard Hanji rustling in the next room, there was no way she was going to sleep when there was a lecture to prepare for. Quietly as he could, Levi made his way to his room without Hanji noticing. The last thing he wanted to do was hear a test run of the material she had gathered.

The vampire decided to take a nap as well. With all of this bullshit going on, he was barely sleeping at all. Levi flopped down on his bed after changing out of his suit and remembered the time when his biggest concern was that he was sleepy. It seemed like a long time ago.

 Levi awoke with a jolt from his dreamless sleep because of his bedroom door slamming.

“Could you please do that again a little bit louder? I’m not sure everyone on the top floor heard you.” Levi snapped at Jean who flopped down on the couch with a tired face. Levi stretched comfortably under his sheets, and if it weren’t for the fact that he needed a shower, he would’ve liked to stay in bed for the whole day-Levi checked his phone-or night in this case.

“Oh sorry, I guess I got up from the wrong side of the bed or had a disappointing meal or it just could be that oh, I was fucking buried today.” Jean deadpanned. Levi sighed annoyed, that wasn’t his fucking business and he wasn’t going to apologize. 

“You’re still a guest so fucking act like one.” Levi growled with his face buried in his pillow.

“And like you’re the perfect example of a good host.” Jean laughed. “Fine fine, sorry I woke you up.” He apologized sarcastically. “I just couldn’t stay a minute longer with those two.” He motioned to the Hanji’s room. “Oh right, Eren is here.”

“I know.” Levi mumbled. He could probably pick out his scent from a large crowd now.

“So are you guys like, a thing or something?” Jean asked leaning back on the couch comfortably, taking out his new phone to check something.

“That’s none of your goddamn business.” Levi sighed rolling to lie on his back.

“’Cause Hanji and Erwin get really quiet and start sharing looks whenever you two are brought up. Ha they probably think I don’t notice it or some shit, you know, it’s not easy to keep secrets away from me.” Jean said proudly and Levi was wishing even for Sasha to be back in his house instead of him.

“If even a bonehead like you can notice it, that just means they’re not trying to hide anything.” Levi mocked, having the urge to roll his eyes even while they’re closed.

“So you two are together then?” Jean misunderstood that as a confirmation. “I guess it figures. Eren hasn’t stopped having googly eyes for you or talking about you like a pathetic school girl since that night at the bar. It’s all, Levi did this, Levi did that, did you know Levi likes something I like? Man it was starting to get on my nerves. No offense, but you’re not that interesting.” Jean rambled, while Levi’s eyes shot open. The vampire always sort of knew the kid was attracted to him, that wasn’t exactly a big surprise. He wasn’t oblivious, he felt the tension between them, but he always figured that was it. Anything more than attraction seemed unlikely for Levi. “But he’s a good kid…I didn’t think he or Armin would care so much, y’know, about me.” Jean dragged on quietly. “Don’t tell him I said that.” He quickly added.

“I wasn’t listening in the first place.” Levi dropped, swinging his legs over the bed. Jean merely huffed under his breath and got back to his phone. The vampire took a clean towel and headed towards the bathroom, though his mind kept circling around the things he just heard. Even if they were true at some point, he doubted they were now. Levi considered himself lucky that he at least got Eren talking after the secret was out. There was still time needed for the trust to be rebuilt. Only then Hanji’s idea of getting humans and vampires cooperating together could start working.

There was obvious commotion behind Hanji’s bedroom door and Levi smiled to himself. Poor Eren. Maybe he should go in there and save him. He thought to himself as his hearing was starting to pick up the conversations between them.

“…So you don’t get sick?” Eren asked curiously.

“Nope. The venom in our blood prevents any disease from entering our body. It’s also the reason why we can’t die, it just won’t let us!” Hanji explained excitedly. “But venom isn’t enough, we have to keep drinking blood to function properly. The more blood we have in our system, the more human we look.” Eren almost gasped in realization.

“So that was why you were so pale a few days ago!” he exclaimed.

“Yes exactly! That’s why by the appearance of a vampire, you can tell how well they’re fed.” Hanji agreed just as enthusiastically. Levi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was something off about this… was Eren…enjoying himself?

“But what about digestion? I mean how do you even digest so much blood? Or does it all go to your body and starts surging through you veins?” Eren asked one question after another as Levi quietly opened up the bedroom door to take a peek. Both of them were sitting on the ground around numerous notebooks and folders and just random papers, most of which was Hanji’s own observations and theories. She was flipping through some of them trying to find the answer to Eren’s question. Levi frowned confused seeing one empty and another half empty bottle of wine on the floor. “Cause if all of the blood you drink goes straight to your veins and arteries, that means you don’t even urinate, making the kidneys in your body completely useless.” Eren rambled drunkenly. In the midst of his train of thought, he lifted up his head and spotted Levi standing in the doorway. “Do you guys still need to piss like humans do?” He asked Levi, looking at him dead seriously.

“Oh my god.” Levi whispered before taking a step back and closing the door.

Levi had to stand there for a minute or so to let the image he saw sink in. While behind the door he heard Hanji hysterically laughing. He really needed that shower. With that thought he headed to the bathroom, which was the only place in his flat where he could be truly alone. A part of him missed that, being alone, though the other part of him knew that it wasn’t good for him. That was why he was secretly glad when Hanji moved in with him.

The water was almost scolding hot, fogging up the bathroom mirrors in seconds, but that was how Levi liked it. He stood there under the stream for a minute or two, just watching the water drip down his bangs which needed cutting. Jean’s words still kept ringing back at him and Levi found himself thinking about it more and more. Of course, his thoughts soon started drifting to the other direction, he realized as he gently palmed himself.

Levi heaved a shaky sigh at the pressure. God he missed it, it was nearly a month and it felt like he was going to die from a case of blue balls any day now. He didn’t remember the last time he had gone this long without release. Perhaps when he was human and still awkward about the whole thing. But he couldn’t do it, not now and not here, Levi reminded himself biting his lip. The house was full of vampires meaning they heard and smelled everything that was going on in the house. If Levi would decide to jack-off he wasn’t confident he could keep quiet, and even if he did, his obvious rise in heartbeat would alert Hanji and maybe even Jean. And he really didn’t want to give horseface another reason to mock him.

A quiet curse escaped his mouth as he took his hand away, taking the shampoo bottle in his hands instead. He was selfishly dreaming of Eren getting the fuck over it and finally accepting them, so that they could pick up where they left off. Sadly, his hands were tied, (which, ironically, was a position he would rather put Eren in) until the kid learned to trust them again.

Levi ended up spending a good half an hour in the shower. In that time he heard Hanji and Jean take off for their training. Jean had tried to put it off, saying he was tired and quietly added that he was still kind of sore from last time. Then there was a silence in which Levi presumed Hanji gave him the look which made horseface shut up and go along with it. Though, Eren’s scent was still present.

He quickly wrapped a towel around his waist like he always did and went straight to his bedroom to dress up. It was a good thing he had managed to put on his boxers and shirt just before Eren stumbled in the room. With any more tension between them than there already was, Levi was going to break.

“So did you learn a lot?” Levi asked first, hoping in his casual sweatpants. Eren was leaning against the door frame, fiddling with a water bottle.

“Yeah, definitely. But Hanji said we’re only halfway through so I’m going to wait till she comes back.” Eren explained coming inside the room. He sounded much more relaxed and open compare to how he was at the cemetery, but that also could be just the alcohol.

“Halfway through the lecture or halfway through drinking yourself into a coma?” Levi asked turning around to face him.

“Oh that.” Eren giggled lightly. “Hanji was telling me about how alcohol has no effect on you guys, but drugs do affect you. I didn’t believe her, so we took turns drinking. I guess she was right.” Eren nodded seriously. Levi sighed, of course Hanji wouldn’t pass up a dare.

“You genuinely liked it?” Levi asked incredulously. Even Erwin couldn’t sit through her lectures.

“Well I mean…yeah!” Eren frowned confused as he slightly swayed coming inside the room and sitting on Levi’s bed. “It’s a whole new world for me, of course I’m interested. Besides I didn’t start writing just because of my uh well sense of purpose and shit. I like analyzing and finding out about new stuff.” Eren smiled to himself. Fair enough, Levi guessed, maybe this kid really liked learning. “And to be honest…the whole vampire thing is kinda cool.” He added quietly, almost to himself. This time Levi raised an eyebrow at him.

“We have to kill people or at least drain them to survive, and you find that…cool?” Levi clarified, squinting his eyes. “Just how much did you drink, Eren?”

“Oh shut up, I’m not that drunk.” Eren rolled his eyes. Levi believed he heard the same thing from him on the very first night they met. “I mean when you put it that way it sounds horrible, but the whole concept of vampirism? It’s kind of badass.”

Levi scoffed under his breath, flopping down on the bed beside Eren. Never in his life had he heard someone label them as ‘interesting’ or even ‘badass’. People usually tended to go for words like ‘freak’ and ‘monster’. Either this kid was that drunk or he needed a wakeup call.

“Oh c’mon. Are you telling me, there’s not one thing about being a vampire that you find even a little bit cool?” Eren prodded him.

“Eren, I can’t ever die, settle down anywhere, go out at day or taste cheeseburgers which you humans seem to love. I have to change my name every other decade and I sleep throughout most of the day, so no not really.” Levi deadpanned.

“That’s because you’ve got a fucked up perspective.” Eren stated boldly and Levi turned his head to look at him outraged. “What? It’s true! What’s the fucking point on being so focused on something that you can’t change? I mean just take a look at Hanji and Erwin, hell even Jean is more positive than you are.”

“You know why Jean is so laid back about the whole thing though?” Levi asked with an ironic smile. “The idiot passed out right before they started ripping him apart, he doesn’t remember the pain and absolute fear of it.” Levi explained, trying to go off-topic. He wasn’t ready to talk to Eren about why he became so fucked up.

“Do you?” Eren asked shyly, he was slowly starting to sober up. “I guess that’s personal, you don’t have to-“

“But you want to know, don’t you?” Levi interrupted, looking at Eren. The kid merely stared at him with his ridiculously green and shiny eyes not saying anything. Levi took that as a yes. “It’s fine. Yeah I do remember. It’s one of those memories that stuck with me as clear as day no matter how much time passed. I was young and at that time very patriotic.” Levi started, leaning back to lie on the bed and staring off into space. “I came from a relatively small town, where people respected me ‘cause me and my friends rebelled against the government. It was 19th century France, so government rebellion was sort of popular.” Levi laughed slightly at his little inside joke. “For as long as I remembered I had wanted to visit England, so on my name day, which was celebrated like a birthday, the town pitched in and bought me a few days trip to England. I fell in love with it the moment I got there. Of course, it was the first time I had gone abroad so everything seemed like that to me. But you probably know, these two countries haven’t gotten along very well. And I made the mistake of going through a bad neighborhood at night, without my friend who knew a little bit of English, and opened up my mouth to speak. There were 5 of them, but only 2 of them did the attacking part. The moment I felt their teeth sinking in and my body growing weaker I thought this is it. I’m going to die here in some alley without anyone knowing. They didn’t even bother ripping out my throat or silencing me, I think they wanted to hear me scream. I have no idea how I survived, but I don’t think it was on purpose. I just remember waking up two days afterwards in the same alley, with most of my wounds healed.” Levi halted, finishing his story. He glanced over to Eren, who was watching him with a mixture of wonder and pity. For a moment Levi wondered if the kid was going to go for another hug.

“What did you afterwards?” Eren asked instead.

“I had no idea what happened or who they were, so naturally I didn’t understand what I had become either.” Levi sighed. “The only thing I knew was the boiling hot rage I had inside of me and strange cravings. At first I thought I was craving a good fuck or something, ‘cause I felt my insides tense up and get excited any time a human walked by.” Levi laughed. “I realized it was blood soon enough, and clouded by my new found anger towards England and its people I killed a few Englishmen to get my hunger under control. I hated every inch of my surroundings by then. After a few weeks, I had become strong enough, so I went after the ones who turned me and killed them.” Levi said calmly. “Well…not entirely. I hunted down the 2 that turned me and another one from their group. I was in the middle of tracking down the ones that were left when Erwin found me and stopped me.”

Eren leaned back to lie on the bed beside Levi. Both of them were looking up at the ceiling.

“Erwin? What was he like back then?” Eren asked, losing the shyness.

“He hasn’t changed much.” Levi replied after a short pause. “Maybe he used to be a little more adventurous and daring back then.” He added with a small smirk playing on his lips.

“How did he get bit?”

“I don’t know for sure. He doesn’t like talking about it, so I don’t think I should say. You can try asking him yourself though I doubt you’ll get much out of him.” Levi frowned. “I guess you know about Hanji as well.”

“Yeah, she told me. Why do you think she can’t remember?” Eren asked curiously.

“Fuck knows. I think that maybe something happened which made her completely block out that part of her life. Erwin had a theory it’s some sort of amnesia- hey, don’t fall asleep idiot, this isn’t a bedtime story.” Levi shook Eren slightly since it seemed he was drifting off to sleep.

“It’s the wine, I can’t help it.” Eren whined. Levi rolled his eyes, that was why you never challenge Hanji to a dare.

“Get up.” Levi ordered, sitting up on the bed. Eren did so very slowly, groaning along the way to show just how fucking displeased he was. “Lift up a little, I want to pull down the blanket, or do you want to nap on an uncomfortable couch?” Eren’s eyes widened in surprise as Levi readied the bed for him. “Actually…” The vampire dragged on, taking his phone from the edge of the bed. “I guess there is one thing...” He muttered to himself, sitting back down on the couch while Eren was frowning confused. Levi thought it over in his head before taking hold of Eren’s legs at the knees and swinging them over to his side, gently sliding Eren over to sit on his lap. Before Eren had time to react, Levi leaned in a blew a little bit of air right below his ear. Naturally Eren squirmed on top of him from the tickling sensation, meanwhile Levi lifted up his phone and snapped a picture.

“Dude what the fuck?” Eren asked outraged, rubbing the sensitive spot on his neck. Levi merely showed him the picture he just took. It seemed like Eren was suspended in air, hovering slightly above the bed, somehow sitting in a seemingly uncomfortable position and making a funny face, trying to push away someone who wasn’t there. Levi wasn’t in the picture.

“I always found that sort of cool.” Levi added quietly with a smile, while Eren was gawking at the picture. Levi refused to tell anything more about it, telling him to ask Hanji instead. Eren still kept slightly rambling about the picture thing while lying down on the bed, and asking Levi to wake him up the moment Hanji got home.

For some reason the vampire felt an urge to laugh at the kid’s enthusiasm, but kept it to himself, dropping a blanket over his shoulders and stepping out of the room with his notebook in his hands. Levi sighed looking over countless pages of crossed out names and about 7 new ones which were waiting in line, before dropping it in the trashcan where it belonged.  


	13. Apratment 74

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for the delay (again, wow someone just throw me in the trash), but i hope the extra lenght of the chapter and the little treat at the end will make up for ir

The next day they had arranged to have another meeting, the serious one. They were going to explain to Jean why he couldn’t stay here and finally discuss the Ymir problem. Levi had his own thoughts on how to deal with the issue, which was mainly take them out of the game for Christ sake, they had done enough damage already, why should they be allowed to live? But Levi was used to thinking like that, the bad needed to be taken out, though he was starting to rethink if that was true. Maybe his perception on things _was_ kind of fucked up? Why was he punishing others because of what he had done and how he felt?

In truth, he had no idea what was going to happen now. Erwin probably had some ideas, which most likely involved as little violence as possible. Levi knew he wasn’t the one to hold grudges or crave vengeance, Erwin was genuinely always looking for the best solution for everyone like the good guy he was. His greater good bullshit was kind of annoying though, Levi thought, seeing as Erwin stood up to start their meeting. They were seated in Erwin’s tiny living room, surrounded by antique tables and shelves as well as old oil paintings which covered almost every inch of the walls. It felt like they were sitting in a museum, in which the oldest thing was Erwin himself.

“Thanks for getting here on such short notice.” Erwin started politely as ever. “I think it’s best we settle these things as soon as possible. First off, Jean, with your funeral out of the way I think you need to start thinking what you’re going to do next or more specifically, _where_ are you going next.” He explained softly. “We’re not kicking you out. Of course you can stay with us for a few weeks or months to get adjusted.” Erwin added quickly and Levi groaned internally. The looks he got from Erwin and Hanji told him his groan wasn’t so internal after all. “You can always count on us to have your back and take care of you, but you have to understand that with most of your family here, it’s dangerous for you to stay in the same city-“

“Yeah I know.” Jean nodded like it was obvious. He was seated furthest away from Eren. He had his hunger somewhat under control, but the scent still affected him. “I’m thinking of heading to Alaska, I’ve always wanted to go there.” He added dreamily.

“You mean you figured this out on your own?” Levi raised an eyebrow at him. It sounded like bullshit.

“Uh yeah? It’s pretty obvious isn’t it?” He frowned at Levi for underestimating him.

“I explained it to him a few days ago.” Armin barely whispered leaning slightly towards Levi and the vampire smiled smugly. Jean apparently heard it as well as his ears turned red.

“That sounds fine! You can travel almost anywhere you like in the continent.” Erwin nodded relieved they didn’t need to explain it to him further. “We called up some people and they’re in the process of making you a fake passport and a whole new life basically.”

“Seriously? Oh man this is like some secret identity movie shit. Who’s making my new passport anyway? Oh wait let me guess, you know a guy.” Jean rambled on excitedly and Hanji smiled fondly. He was still new so he was still enthusiastic about the whole thing. Hanji held hope that maybe his enthusiasm wouldn’t die out, and he’d start viewing his new life the same way she did.

“Jean, your parents buried you yesterday, can you at least act like you give a shit?” Eren shook his head. If Jean were there that day, he probably wouldn’t be so cheery right now, which was why Eren was pissed at him.

“Yeah well, I mean that sucks and all, but y’know life goes on and so should I.” Jean shrugged, while both Levi and Eren sighed tiredly, and Erwin and Hanji remained indifferent. Levi knew they were glad that Jean was so naïvely laid back about the whole thing, it was better than dealing with dramatic freak-outs. “Oh cool, so that means I can change my name into anything I want?” Jean asked excitedly. “I wanna be called Clint.” He added leaning back into the chair.

“No way are you cool enough to pull off Clint.” Eren shook his head in disapproval. Jean was about to fire something back when Erwin interrupted.

“Actually, you’ll be assigned a random name of their own choosing, but later on I think you can be called whatever you like.” Erwin said with a smile and Jean stuck out his tongue at Eren.

“Mature.” Eren simply dropped at him and Levi couldn’t help but snicker.

“Wait, but isn’t Marco going to Alaska this summer?” Armin thought out loud.

“Really?” Jean asked quickly with an unconvincing surprised face. “Huh…well then, I’ll pick a different state, no biggie.” He shrugged leaning back, while Levi gave him a stern look. He didn’t give a fuck who this Marco person was or what he meant to him, there wasn’t a justified excuse to reveal yourself to someone like that. Levi glanced at Eren. Unless the circumstances were as extreme as they were now. “So when do I move out?”

“Uhm…” Erwin stammered slightly. Most likely he wasn’t expecting this topic to move so quickly and smoothly as it was going now. “The passport should be ready in a few days, so I think next week. But you have to let me know at least a few days prior, I’ll get some more blood for you from the storage and I can give you the locations where you can find more blood banks.”

“So I’ll have to steal it?” Jean asked frowning.

“It’s either steal or kill people, horseface. Your choice.” Levi sighed.

“I don’t think I could kill people.” Jean muttered seriously. “I mean I still have to convince myself I’m drinking smoothies every time I feed.” He laughed slightly. That was true though, Levi remembered. It was singlehandedly the most idiotic thing he’d ever seen.

“So stealing is your only other option.” Erwin stated.

“Don’t worry, I can teach you how to pick locks and get around security.” Hanji reassured him. “We still have a few training sessions left.” She reminded him with a playful smile, while Jean retreated back into his chair and turned his gaze away.

“Another reason why we have to move you out quickly is because of Ymir.” Erwin explained and the kids fidgeted in their seats, their interest peaked. “She doesn’t know about Jean being a vampire or his relation to us, and it’s better it stays that way.”

“Why?” Armin asked.

“If Ymir knew that she made you, she will want to… well claim you in a way.” Hanji tried to explain delicately.

“Claim me-?“ Jean asked with a horrified look.

“There’s a special sort of bond between the vampire and the human who they decide to turn.” Erwin started. “Well at least it used to be, when people would willingly ask vampires to do that. They would become sort of like family. There were cases when during a non consensual turning when the newborn would still feel a great deal of respect and loyalty towards the vampire that bit him, but that was usually the case of uhm- Stockholm syndrome I believe it’s called, or in other words basic torture and manipulation. The point is, she’ll want you in her family and the longer you stay here, the more you are at risk of her finding out about you.”

“So you mean people actually wanted to become vampires in the past?” Armin asked curiously.

“Yes. The frenzy died out somewhere in the late 19th century, but yes, there was a time like that.” Erwin recalled grimly. Levi remembered going with him to help a bunch of humans who were waiting to be turned, when the vampires were just planning on playing with their food. “Some people viewed it as a glamorous lifestyle, as if it were exotic.” Levi glanced at Eren who was firmly staring at the ground, his cheeks turning pink.

“Man that’s sick.” Jean shook his head.

“There’ll be another time for history lessons, now getting back to our problem.” Erwin sighed sitting down, and heaving a long sigh. “The last thing Ymir heard from us is that we’re keeping Eren alive and that he doesn’t know anything. It’s been nearly a week, and if we’re counting the attack on Jean as completely accidental and unelated, I don’t think she’s going to do anything. Of course we can never be sure. That’s why we’re in such a tricky position.”

“If they find out we know something or that we’re hanging around you guys so much, they could take us out because of the whole exposure thing, right?” Armin asked with a thoughtful look.

“Yes, that’s the main issue here. Ymir and her group are very unpredictable and violent. Even if she is feeling okay about it this week we can’t guarantee she won’t change her mind and decide to track us.” Erwin nodded.

“What is the deal with them?” Jean asked outraged. “I mean they sound like textbook bad guys, shouldn’t we just kill them or something? I mean look at what they did to me!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re clearly hating your new vampire life.” Levi mocked sarcastically.

“They came from a completely different background, their turning circumstances were much more disturbing.” Hanji interrupted all-knowingly.

“What do you mean? How can it get even more disturbing?” Eren asked in disbelief.

“Because they were meant to be soldiers.” Levi answered calmly and the whole room fell dead silent. “It was around world war 2 I think, when vampires were being hunted for scientific purposes. At one point there was an idea to make a vampire army, that was loyal to the US. Ymir, Reiner, Bertold and Annie were one of the many soldiers. When the vampires were turned they were subjected to torture and starvation, making them submissive.” Levi explained simply, like he was talking about yesterday’s news. “Of course the plan backfired on the crazy scientists, like any other bullshit plan involving something they can’t control. The four of them had been through their training already when I helped them escape. Though, they had trouble going back to their usual life, and there was a general hatred for humans and the whole world I guess for making them go through all that shit.” Eren’s eyes went wide at the news. Levi was being hunted himself at that time. The fact that he released them had nothing to do with his good will or wanting to help. That was just his ‘fuck you’ to the human race for trying to fuck with something way out of their league. “They were very grateful, so somehow I became this new group’s leader.” Levi shrugged. He really didn’t want the responsibility, but they were insisting, and after being introduced to drugs Levi didn’t care anymore.

“How come you left?” Eren asked, staring at him intensely.

“Like Erwin said, they’re extremely violent. It was too much for my taste, so I ran away. They’re not that happy about it as you can see.” Levi felt Hanji and Erwin staring at him. Honestly, did they think Levi didn’t notice it? Every time the topic gets even a little close to The Incident Levi felt a wave of pity from their side which he didn’t love.

“So what do we do?” Eren asked, finally turning his stare away from Levi and looking at the other vampires.

“Why can’t we just kill them?” Jean asked childishly.

“Because that’s not how we handle these things.” Erwin replied sternly. “For now our best course of action is to do nothing.” There was a minute of silence after Erwin’s words, where everyone was staring at him dumbfounded.

“Are you serious?” Jean was the first to break the silence. “We went through all of this bullshit and we’re just gonna brush it off, just like that?!”

“Pretty much.” Levi answered. He had been thinking and that actually was the best course of action. As long as it was quiet and no more ultimatums were being placed on them, they were in the clear. Any sort of move could be seen as provocation from their side, and they needed to let things cool down for a while. Besides if Ymir was planning something they’d be getting hints, she loved being dramatic about these things.

“So…I can go back to working in the sandwich shop and writing my articles?” Eren asked hopefully.

“I think so. As long as you don’t post anything more about us.” Erwin gave him a small smile.

“Of course!” Eren agreed with a smile playing on his lips.

“But maybe we should at least finish training them? In case something, y’know, were to happen.” Hanji suggested, looking up at Erwin.

“Hm, that’s a good idea.” The leader hummed thoughtfully. “So for the remainder or this week we’ll all still be training.” He announced after a moment. “And of course if anything happens, don’t hesitate to come to us.”

And with that the meeting was over. Armin had come to Erwin separately and shyly asked if he was safe and what sort of precautions should he take, repeating about a dozen times that he didn’t want to seem selfish.

The next day they had scheduled their training times. First went Erwin and Armin, then Jean and Hanji and Levi and Eren went in last, mostly because Eren was back at working at the shop and he got off late. Levi spent the day relaxing and enjoying the fact that at least Jean wasn’t there. With his new identity being prepared there was also a need for him to change his appearance, so he was off to dye his hair black.

Hanji was rustling about in the kitchen and it was just like old times. If Levi closed his eyes he could imagine this was just a regular day. Hanji was about to go to the bar while Levi was finding it hard to get up from bed. He’d spend half of the night at the same bar looking to hook up with someone, maybe going for a kill if he was short on blood.

The image didn’t bring him any sort of nostalgic feelings though. Instead he felt uneasy at the thought of going out to kill someone, because now he knew that afterwards he would go to read Eren’s blog to get the next name. Though, the thought of going out to hook up wasn’t so unappealing.

“Hey Levi, I think you’re starting to go short on your supplies.” Hanji remarked opening up the door to his room. She was slurping her steaming cup of hot blood. “Do you need me to pick up something for you from the bar?” she suggested like she always did, and Levi’s reply was always ‘no, I’m good.’

“Yeah, that’d be great actually.” Levi nodded, crossing his legs and leaning back against the backrest of his chair, browsing through his laptop. Hanji was about to leave his room, expecting his usual reply, but now she froze, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Really?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah-oh can we not make a big deal out of this?” Levi frowned upon seeing her ‘about to burst from excitement’ face.

Hanji nodded much more enthusiastically than normal, biting her lower lip probably to keep from squeaking. Levi rolled his eyes and turned away from her and back to his laptop. Though, when he heard the door slam, signaling she had left, Levi allowed himself a small smile as well.

He finished deleting all traces of his previous killings on his laptop before heading out to start his training. Without the information on his victims, his laptop became simply storage for all of his and partly Hanji’s favorite movies and TV shows. Levi laughed to himself. He wondered what would detectives or vampire hunters think of them, the centuries old undead beings, feared by every generation, the ultimate creatures of the night responsible for killing hundreds, having collections of all the seasons of Friends and I Dream of Jeannie inside their homes instead of coffins or human bones.

Eren wasn’t there when Levi arrived. Punctuality wasn’t one of his traits after all. Instead, the vampire went on to warm up on the treadmill until the kid arrived. It was going to be difficult teaching the kid how to block, mostly because Levi didn’t have much knowledge on it himself. He was more of an attacker than a defender.

Levi was starting to work up a mean sweat when Eren burst into the room, with his gym back slung over his shoulder.

“Sorry uh I-“ Eren wheezed throughout his pants, he clearly rant almost the entire way here. “Manager held me up- couldn’t get away, I-I’m here now.” He nodded going off to change into his gym clothes.

“It’s fine. At least you’re warmed up.” Levi commented, going to the aerobics room, since it was the most well fitted for training. Eren joined him a few minutes afterwards, his breathing still harsh and uneven.

“Okay I’m ready.” He breathed with his face still red.

“No you’re not.” Levi commented placing two fingers on his neck to catch his pulse, which only increased with Levi standing so close. At the same moment he realized he didn’t have to do that, he could hear Eren’s blood flow from across the room. Eren swallowed noticeably. “Walk around for a bit to get your pulse under control, I’ll explain the theory in the mean time.” Levi suggested taking a step back. Eren nodded dumbly, turning his eyes away from the vampire and started walking back and forth across the room in a slow walk.

“Blocking in general requires fast reflexes. You need to determine quickly how fast or how strong the upcoming hit is to block it effectively. There are a bunch of different techniques, but the most basic one is keeping your hands up and slightly crouching to create a smaller target. You’ve seen how it looks like a bunch of times from movies and stuff. Of course this only lessens the damage done to you by the hit. If the punch or kick isn’t delivered very quickly, you can try to avert its course by catching the hand or the leg. Everything else basically lies in your instincts and how well you can dodge which is what we’re going to find out today.” Levi finished and Eren had seemingly calmed down for now and was standing in front of him with his arms raised in a blocking position.

“But what do I do when you go in to trip me? Is there a block for that?” Eren asked suddenly, remembering their previous fights. Levi smirked slightly since that was his signature move. His opponents often underestimated him because of his height and size, that was why Levi went for the legs to make them fall. Once they were on the ground, they were as good as his.

“Not really, since it’s a sneak attack.” Levi shook his head. “You can try dodging it by getting out of the way, keep your feet moving, but not too much either, but most of all try to regain your coordination as soon as possible, before you fall down.”

“Alright. I’m ready then.” Eren nodded seriously. His face was incredibly concentrated, focusing on the entire frame of Levi probably trying to imagine all the different attacks he could pull. The focused energy coming off from him reminded Levi of the time when he caught him playing guitar in Hanji’s room.

Levi wasn’t planning on going easy on the kid, so he attacked at almost full force. He considered the fact that he was stronger than Eren, and he didn’t want him to end up being knocked out like Jean did, so he kept his attacks quite simple. Eren’s eyes went wide as Levi was sending one punch after another at him, lifting up his hands and crouching behind them, screwing his eyes shut.

“Eren you need to have your eyes open when you’re getting attacked.” Levi commented halting for a moment.

“Right. Sorry.” He murmured, taking a few deep breaths.

Levi went in again after a moment, this time throwing a few slower kicks and punches, but the kid was still hiding behind his arms. The vampire tripped him, getting annoyed with his unchanging position. Eren stumbled and didn’t manage to catch himself, flopping down on the ground. Naturally he fidgeted on the floor trying to get up as quick as he could, but all Levi had to do was give a slight kick to the side and straddle him, preventing him from getting up at all.

“And that’s how you get yourself killed.” Levi remarked, while Eren was panting under him, wearing a pissed off face. Levi heard Eren’s pulse picking up and got off of him, getting back to his attack position.

Eren kept falling and flailing in general for another good half an hour. Levi kept throwing one remark after another, but Eren was still finding it hard to change his blocking position. At least he was getting better at dodging and avoiding his tripping, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Levi soon felt himself getting angry like he did the time before as his attacks started to get more aggressive.

“C’mon you brat, footwork! How many times do I have to tell you to move. Your. Feet.” Levi scolded him in between his hits. Eren started to move, but it seemed like he didn’t know where to place his feet, which resulted in him losing his balance more quickly. “Stay focused!” Levi bellowed, seeing Eren looking away from him to look around himself as to not walk into any of the equipment while walking backwards. The kid looked back at him with an angry face. What was the point in him being angry if it didn’t help with his blocking? It seemed that like Levi, Eren was more of an attacker than a defender, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t have basic self defense skills. “You’re a goddamn writer, can’t you be more creative than just standing there and cowering behind your arms?” Levi mocked slightly, and this time Eren really got mad. He finally lowered his hands down a bit, stood up straighter, but instead of changing his blocking position he served a punch to Levi’s solar plexus, which caught the vampire by surprise.

Levi gasped, taking a step back. Crap, he didn’t expect the hit to be so direct.

“Creative enough for you?” Eren asked fired up.

“It’s an improvement.” Levi lifted up his head with a smirk. The kid wanted to play dirty and that was his area of specialty, Levi thought going back to attacking Eren. This time Eren started to mix his blocking positions since he was also looking for opportunities to attack. They were fully fighting with each other now, just like they had before in Levi’s room. The only difference was that Eren now knew a few tricks.

Levi oversaw a slower punch coming to his side and stopped Eren’s hand easily, bending it behind his back and pushing him face first against the nearest wall. The kid however, kicked himself away from the wall and somehow managed to hit Levi in the knee in a blind back kick. The vampire stumbled back letting go of him momentarily, while Eren took the initiative to slam Levi against the same wall, back first, rendering him defenseless. Levi smiled to himself after the hit, the kid wasn’t as dumb as he looked. He figured out that Levi’s strength laid in his ability to go for quick attacks. Without the ability to do that, well he wasn’t completely defenseless, but his attacks were considerably weaker.

Levi could overthrow Eren from a position like this in seconds, but he stayed put, staring at the kid almost with anticipation at what he planned to do next. He had Levi cornered and Eren was staring right back at him with a flushed face from their workout, seemingly surprised he was actually winning against him. Experimentally, he pressed his arm harder, making more pressure fall onto Levi, seeing how would he react, but the vampire still wasn’t fighting back. Levi was surprised at himself how much excitement he felt from being powerless, and a part of him wanted Eren to press even more, to be even closer and against him entirely. However, Eren kept slightly panting, not sure of what to do next, but it was obvious the kid was feeling just as excited.

“It’s kinda late, maybe we should just call it a night.” Eren stated more than asked, stepping away from Levi, which seemed to have taken a lot of effort from his part. He was generally avoiding looking at the older man, while the vampire swallowed loudly, bumping his head against the wall.

“Yeah, I think we’re done here.” Levi nodded and Eren went out of the room to change just like that. The vampire cursed under his breath, shaking out of his state. He had to remember that he was in no position to make the first move. His first and foremost mission here was to try and rebuilt Eren’s trust, any more stupid moves from his part could throw him back to square one.

With that thought he pushed himself away from the wall and went to wash up a bit and change back into his clothes. Eren didn’t wait for him and left the gym just like that, which shouldn’t have been surprising to Levi. Yet he felt slightly guilty for pushing Eren into a position like that, when he could’ve easily avoided it.

Levi was leaving as well when he had noticed Eren’s sneakers lying near his locker. In the haste to leave, he probably left them behind. The vampire sighed taking them and figuring out the route he needed to take to swing by his house. He took a good whiff of the late night’s air which still held traces of Eren’s scent in it, before following it, since it was actually the fastest route to the kid’s place.

The smell kept getting sharper and clearer as Levi was getting closer to his apartment. He realized he had never actually been there, even though he had the address and everything. It wasn’t high on the 4th floor like Levi’s apartment, he only had to climb 2 flights of stairs to get to the simple light wooden door with the number 74 on it. Levi knocked out of habit instead of pressing the doorbell and heard Sasha growling at the other side of the door.

“Calm down girl! C’mon let’s go to the other room, c’mon.” Eren ushered her and heard as he closed the door to some room with the dog. The front door swung open in front of Levi moments later and Eren seemed like he was expecting him. He probably realized having left his sneakers, and Sasha’s reaction was another big hint. Eren was breathing kind of harshly and Levi noticed that his heartbeat was up, most likely from running up the stairs or something since he got home no more than 10 minutes ago.

“Hey, you left your shoes at the gym.” Levi simply stated tiredly, reaching for his bag, while the kid reached for Levi’s jacket instead, giving a rough pull, making him stumble inside, and smashing his mouth against his. Levi gasped from the sudden contact, dropping whatever the fuck he was holding and clinging to the kid in front of him like he was his life support. Seconds later Levi had his hands around Eren’s body and tangled in his hair, almost greedily sliding his tongue in Eren’s mouth and drinking up the sounds he was making.

He had no idea what brought this on or what was the kid thinking, but he wasn’t going to complain or hold back unless the kid did. So far it seemed that Eren wasn’t planning backing down anywhere as his hand freely slid under Levi’s shirt and the vampire felt himself shuddering even though it wasn’t cold. On the contrary, it seemed everywhere that Eren touched him burned and left his skin vibrating for more. Levi kicked the front door shut and pressed himself more tightly against the kid. He didn’t remember the last time he felt like physically shaking from the need to be with someone, all he knew was that he wanted more, he wanted to drown in Eren’s scent for the night.

Eren pulled his mouth away out of breath, fumbling to shrug out of his jacket and to take off Levi’s.

“This doesn’t change anything.” Eren stated firmly, sliding his hands around Levi’s torso.

“Mhm.” The vampire merely hummed, reaching to reattach his lips onto Eren’s by holding the side of his face.

“I still don’t trust you.” Eren pulled away slightly again to add as an afterthought.

“I know.” Levi quickly dropped reaching for Eren’s face again, but he pulled away once more.

“I mean I don’t hate you, but I don’t want you to think-“

“I get it, Eren. I really do.” Levi interrupted impatiently. “So shut up and keep-“ Levi was pretty sure he wanted to say ‘and keep kissing me’ but his actions got ahead of his words, catching Eren’s lips in another rough kiss.

Levi really did get it though. This was something that was building up from day one and it was bound to explode. It had nothing to do with their feelings, just fulfillment of their basic physical needs, something they needed to get out of the way if they wanted to go on without the strangling tension between them. So Levi was putting everything and anything he had, the entire month without the release and oh god it felt like heaven. He didn’t know whether it was the month of waiting, the electricity between them or Eren’s passion in general, which was making him touch and feel him as if it was his last night on this earth.

Eren was the one attacking him, forcing his tongue in Levi’s mouth, slamming him slightly against the hallway wall, while all Levi was able to do was hold his ground and take everything that was being offered to him. Levi was usually very particular about sex or foreplay, it had to go his way or not go at all, but now having someone else to touch seemed more than enough. Eren’s hand wandered slightly, not quite deciding what he wanted to touch or feel before finally settling on Levi’s hips and moving his lips to his neck.

Levi was surprised to hear the sounds coming out of his own mouth, but he was past caring, all he wanted to do now was to hear Eren make those same noises.

“Y’know…” Eren started in between kissing and slightly nibbling on Levi’s neck which was making him go crazy. “During the whole lecture with Hanji, there was one thing I was too embarrassed to ask.” He explained, his voice was slightly harsh and out of breath. “Hanji told me there is no chance of vampires being able to reproduce among themselves or with humans and I get that.” Levi frowned slightly, wondering where the hell was this kid leading to. Somehow talking about baby vampires wasn’t exactly a turn on for him. “But that doesn’t answer the question of whether or not you’re able to…well… perform.” He added delicately and Levi smirked.

“You want to know if I can get hard.” Levi laughed slightly, angling his head to give Eren better access.

“I’m thinking the answer is yes.” Eren smiled against his neck, pushing Levi’s hips against his own to create some friction. The vampire took hold of Eren’s hips as well, using them to turn them around.

“See for yourself.” Levi returned playfully, taking Eren’s hand and leading it to his own growing bulge, making him slightly press down. Levi’s sigh of relief was slightly shaky, but he didn’t care. He was getting back in his dominant role, where he felt most powerful and most of all turned on.

It didn’t seem like Eren was complaining either, his eyes were full of anticipation just like earlier tonight when he had Levi cornered. He was waiting to see what his next move was going to be, all the while rubbing Levi’s dick through his pants, feeling it getting harder in his hand. Now that Levi was in control like he should be, he had the power to slow things down. Sure he loved the haste and passion behind Eren’s quick attack on him, it was enough to get his heart beating like crazy, but somehow he didn’t want this to end after 10 minutes. So carefully he stood closer and leaned in, leaving a few inches between their mouths. Eren was eager for the contact, but Levi held him down and slowly caught his lips in a deep kiss, feeling Eren shudder against him. They both took their times exploring each other’s mouths, tasting every inch of one another, before Levi started to gently tug on Eren’s shirt, wanting it on the floor with their jackets.  

Instead though, Eren pushed away, taking his hand and leading him in the room nearby which seemed to be the living room. The writer pushed Levi down on a small dark couch, getting on top of him, straddling his lap and attaching his lips back where they belonged. They made out slowly yet passionately for another good few minutes before Levi began to tug on Eren’s shirt again and the kid lifted up his harms willingly. Soon Levi’s shirt followed after and Eren was back to kissing his neck, nibbling on his collar bones, and generally tasting every inch of Levi’s skin he could reach, while the vampire tangled his hand in Eren’s hair, gently massaging his head in encouragement.

As much as Levi enjoyed their slow little play, he was starting to get anxious at the lack of friction. Eren seemed to have read his mind as he started rolling his hips against Levi’s and the vampire never thought he’d have the urge to almost purr from all the different sensations he was feeling. Levi marveled at the groan Eren made once he grabbed hold of his upper thighs and ass, grinding their lower halves together even harder. Soon enough they were full on rutting against one another, gently panting in each other’s ears.

Levi didn’t like beating around the bush so he boldly slid his hand in Eren’s pants, taking his length firmly in his hand, while Eren gasped in surprise, his panting getting on the verge of moaning. The vampire couldn’t get enough of being so close to his human warmth and his scent, which was making everything even more exciting than it already was. Levi was dragging his fist agonizingly slowly up and down his shaft and it seemed Eren was going to start crying from the teasing.

“Faster you asshole. Fuck.” Eren whined in his ear in between his pants, rolling his hips in an attempt to get more friction.

“Like this?” Levi breathed in his ear, stroking him a little bit faster and brushing his thumb against the tip every other stroke.

“Yeah- uh yeah that’s better.” Eren moaned, clinging to Levi’s shoulders tightly. “I want more, Levi, I want-“ Eren stammered and Levi turned to lay down Eren on the couch, undoing his pants and sliding them down along with his boxers. Like he could say no to something like that? Levi jumped out of his own pants soon after and finally, fucking finally, he had Eren where he had wanted him from the moment he met him at the bar. Slightly sweaty, out of breath, naked and squirming under him, begging to touch him. Levi had imagined the view in his head almost disturbingly often, but it was nothing compared to the actual view. Part of him wanted to snap a picture, but even then it wouldn’t hold all the want, need and desire they felt right here and right now.

They were done messing around and Levi got straight to prep time. Eren didn’t have lube apparently, luckily for him though Levi always had one of those lubed up condoms in his back pocket just in case, so Levi slid inside of him smoothly. Levi thought he was going to collapse on top of Eren the moment he felt the tightness and warmth of his ass. He settled for a deep throaty groan instead, leaning in to catch Eren’s lips in a chaste kiss. He kept staring at the writer under him as he was getting adjusted.

“What?” Eren asked frowning from the intense look Levi was giving him.

“You have the most ridiculously green eyes.” Levi thought out loud, continuing to gaze at them. He was serious, he could fit every shade of the forest inside those eyes. It was absurd, things like this existed only in fairytales or some shit, they shouldn’t have been staring right back at him with wonder.

“I’m sorry?” Eren said unsure of how should he react.

“No.” Levi shook his head, catching his bottom lip in a small kiss again. “I like them.” He added quietly like it was a secret, and in a way it felt like that.

Levi started to move slightly and Eren gave him the okay nod that he was ready. They started to rock against each other slowly, then getting faster and faster until Eren was urging him to move even more. Levi merely buried his face in the crook of Eren’s neck before starting to thrust in and out at full speed. Eren was trashing underneath him, dragging his nails across Levi’s back and begging for more. They were back to how they started, rough, quick, full of nothing but passion to please themselves and each other.

It took a few good strokes for Eren to fall apart completely and spill over Levi’s hand while the later kept on thrusting vigorously, screaming out his release only a minute later. Levi swore his vision went white for a split second at the intensity of his own orgasm. Levi pulled out as soon as he regained control of himself, tying the condom and leaving it somewhere on the floor where he planned to clean up afterwards. As of right now he had no wish of moving or climbing off Eren who was his main source of warmth right now. The kid was barely conscious, not even caring that Levi was on top of him.

Levi sighed, they couldn’t just fall asleep like this. He glanced around the small living room for the first time which was filled with loads of things from guitars and music records to shelves of books, folders, souvenirs and a few fancy plates. The place looked properly lived in; Levi imagined this is where Eren worked. The vampire oversaw a folded up blanket on a chair nearby, so he quickly jumped off to retrieve it. This time he managed to settle in beside him on the very limited space they had on that couch and lazily drop the blanket over the both of them before joining Eren in dreamland, which, for once, was less exciting than being awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note, this is officially now the longest fic I've ever written which is pretty great I think since I'm not planning on ending it just yet. oh and as always, the additional info is still being posted on my blog


	14. Undead Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been apologizing for being late almost every time, but this time I truly am sorry for being so late. I could've posted the chapter maybe 3 days ago but it would've been incredibly half-assed and left hanging and I don't like doing that. I hope you're not terribly mad at me for this and enjoy (more on the reasons why i couldn't post and why the next chapter is probably going to take so long + character backstories can be found here http://mamabro.tumblr.com/tagged/vampfic )

Levi awoke from a strange tingling sensation. His grayish eyes started to lazily break open and focus on his surroundings. Fuck, the tingling was sort of annoying, what the hell was that? It felt like his right arm was getting gently petted with a cheese grater. The vampire’s eyes opened up fully and squinted instinctively because it was so light.

“Fuck!” Levi exclaimed jumping from the couch to the place where the sunlight beaming from the window hadn’t reached it yet. He looked at his right arm which had been probably sitting out in the early morning light for a good 10 minutes. It was all red and irritated just like Levi himself.

Eren had come inside the living room just then with a steaming cup of coffee and was staring confused at the naked Levi crouching in the corner of the room, before the realization had hit him.

“Oh crap, sorry.” Eren apologized going over to draw the blinds. They were light and served more of a decoration rather than the tough shit Levi had at his place where no light could penetrate it. Either way, it was still a little better since the light wasn’t so direct. “You okay?”

Levi was still breathing harshly from the slight panic attack, clutching the damaged part of his arm with his other hand. He was sort of angry and still tired from his lack of sleep, but his eyes still widened at the sight in front of him. Eren was standing there in his plain boxers and simple button up shirt which was undone, hanging on his shoulders and a worried expression on his face as he was staring at the vampire. His eyes didn’t have the ridiculous green in them, it was lighter, almost hazel, his skin was also almost glowing. It took a few moments for Levi to realize that this was the first time he was seeing Eren in pure sunlight.

“Yeah, I’ll live. Unfortunately.” Levi dropped almost bitterly, but Eren cracked a smile. The kid set his coffee on the table and went over to get Levi’s clothes from the floor which was on the sun exposed part of the room. “Thanks.” He mumbled taking the clothes as his fingers slightly brushed against Eren’s. Levi didn’t really have any wish to dress up, but he jumped in his boxers anyway.

“Look, uh, last night shouldn’t have happened.” Eren started, scratching the back of his head. Levi frowned confused. It was exactly what needed to happen. “After our training session I got worked up and all, and then you showing up, I just…” Eren trailed off. Levi squinted his eyes. Why did this sound like a bunch of bullshit to him? Oh right, because he heard Eren’s heartbeat picking up upon touching him.

“I guess it was sort of rushed.” Levi had to agree. On some level he knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Levi was expecting it to be later though. Eren was still sort of unstable about this whole situation. “But I don’t think it was a mistake.” Levi dropped honestly, while Eren beamed at him. “We both wanted to, it was a way for us to cope with this shit, I don’t see anything wrong with that.” The vampire shrugged, leaning back on the couch.

“How about the fact that you’re almost 200 years old?” Eren asked outraged.

“So?” Levi raised an eyebrow. “I’ve just got a lot of experience.” What was the big deal really? He still had his somewhat young body, the only thing that was evolving and changing was his mind.

“I don’t know it’s just sort of weird? I guess?” Eren flailed slightly not knowing how to explain. “Things are complicated as it is; I guess I don’t want to add this to the current shit pile.” Eren sighed.

“I still think it’s sort of dumb, but fine.” Levi said getting up from the couch, standing in front of Eren. “Let’s say it shouldn’t have happened and we’ll forget this ever happened.” He slurred just slightly sarcastically, taking the few steps needed to get into Eren’s personal space. Eren visibly tensed up and Levi felt him getting on the verge of panting once he gently placed his hands on either side of Eren’s hips. “In fact. We can pretend I never came over to your place so whatever happened or happens while I’m still here will also fall in the pile of ‘things to forget about’.” Levi smiled just barely, sliding his hands down and gently taking Eren’s hands in his. The kid was finally getting it and his breathing had only picked up the pace.

“Levi, maybe we shouldn’t, I mean, uh we-“ Eren tried to say while he almost desperately grasped Levi’s hands in return. He suddenly didn’t know the reasons anymore. Levi knew the feeling well, he was young like that once, when the feeling of another human being (or in this case someone who at least _used to be_ human) was so enticing and irresistible, it was nearly impossible to tear yourself away from them. The vampire would feel sort of bad because he knew how he was making Eren feel. Though, Levi was a bit reluctant to admit he was doing this because that was exactly how he was feeling as well.

“Alright, I’m not saying anything.” Levi shook his head innocently. “In fact I’m off to take a shower if you don’t mind, bathroom is this way I presume?” Levi asked pointing to the hallway where there were a few more doors and a kitchen at the end of it. Eren almost didn’t want to let go of Levi’s hands, but he tore them away nonetheless and pointed to the hallway.

“Yeah second door on the left.” Eren instructed with his still slightly irregular breathing.

“Thanks.” Levi smiled, slowly walking towards the bathroom, feeling Eren’s eyes on his back. Levi guessed it was only fair. The first time it was Eren who had seduced him; well he made the first move which counted. Now it was Levi’s turn. Of course before turning around he made sure to give Eren a look to let him know he was also invited to join him in the shower.

Eren stayed put though, even when Levi entered the small bathroom with light yellow tiles and a new looking glass shower cabin. Levi took a good look around the bathroom with its cozy mirror cabinet filled with very little stuff indicating Eren was a simple kid and didn’t have that many people staying over. After a minute though, Levi began to wonder if Eren was going to show up at all. He heard nothing from the hallway or the living room. With a sigh, he hooked his thumb on the waist band on his boxers about to pull them down, when the bathroom door finally opened and a slightly shaky Eren stepped in.

Levi turned around in a whim with an almost hopeful look on his face, while Eren was staring back at him intensely yet nervously. Neither of them said anything as the both of them took little steps towards another. The only sound that could be heard was their slight breathing as they stood a few inches away from each other. It seemed like the moment was so delicate and fragile neither of them wanted to make any sudden moves to make it crumble. It started with Eren’s hands almost ghosting along the length of Levi’s arms, not quite touching them, but the electricity was still there. Eren made sure to avoid touching the red an irritated part of Levi’s right arm. Levi took a deep breath, starting to slowly and lightly glide his hands along Eren’s torso, feeling his life pumping beneath the skin. They stood there for a good minute or so, just gently feeling each other and inching closer.

The first one to make the move was Levi, slowly leaning in and starting to place soft kisses along Eren’s neck. The writer let out a shaky sigh and started grasping Levi’s shoulders a little more firmly. Levi remembered how infuriating it was sometimes to smell something so tasty, yet the packaging tasted almost salty. However this time, Eren’s skin beneath his tongue seemed like a holiday treat, and the delicious smell of what was underneath was just a huge bonus.

Eren’s hands traveled to Levi’s hair, running it through his fingers and ghosting his lips across the side of Levi’s face. It seemed they managed to inhale every single fiber of each other’s faces before their lips finally met in one long dragged out and needy kiss.

That seemed to be the moment the fragility evaporated between them, as they embraced each other fully. They stayed locked like that for a while, feeling every patch of skin, curve and bump on their bodies while their tongues lazily tangled together.

This time it was Eren who made the next move and secured a hand around Levi’s waist, pushing himself against Levi completely. The sudden closeness got them both on the verge of panting as Levi started to get slightly more intense with the kiss, taking the chance to nibble on Eren’s bottom lip, as the kid shuddered against him.

It was early morning, the part of the day where the mind is clearest, yet Levi felt like he was drunk with the way his head was swimming. He started taking small steps backwards with Eren towards the shower. He did intend on having one after all.

The cold floor of the shower cabin met Levi’s feet as he pushed Eren’s shirt off his shoulders all while kissing him. As the shirt fell to the floor outside the cabin, the writer drew back only to get rid of the last piece of clothing he had on him. Levi followed his lead and Eren headed to turn on the shower with just the right pressure and temperature. Levi couldn’t help himself and dragged his hands along Eren’s back, down to his ass while kissing the back of his neck and shoulders, slightly jumping at the sudden contact with cold water.

After a few seconds it was pleasantly warm, not the sort of scolding hot that Levi liked, but he was going to let it slide this time. He thought with a small smile, turning Eren around and kissing him deeply while the water poured down the both of them. With a small laugh they had to take a small step to the side because the water was getting in their eyes and mouth. Levi forgot over time just how complicated shower sex was.

The shower cabin started fogging up bit by bit from the steam, though Levi wouldn’t have been surprised if the cause was their increasing panting and heat between them. The vampire felt strangely self conscious when Eren took a small step back to breathe and looked him up and down. Levi was never the one to feel shy or uncomfortable about his naked body, but there was something in the way Eren was staring at him that made him feel truly naked and he felt the need to hide from the gaze.

Eren, however, caught Levi’s chin and turned his head to look at him again before hungrily attaching his mouth back on Levi’s. The vampire inhaled sharply clutching the kid the same way he did last night. As Eren’s hand wandered down to get a good grab of Levi’s ass, Levi felt him smile against his mouth and he felt ridiculous because he could physically feel it was a cheeky smile.

“Been waiting to do that?” Levi asked with a smug smile, tearing himself away from Eren’s mouth.

“You have no idea.” Eren laughed lightly, moving his hand to grab the other cheek as if to prove his point. Levi couldn’t help but smile as well, pushing his hips against Eren’s and backing him up against the cabin. Like Levi said before, it was his turn to seduce Eren and set up the rules.

The writer’s light laugh turned into a soft moan as Levi grinded against his half hard length. Their lips found each other in an instant and were back to sliding against each other in sync. This time Levi was full on forcing his tongue inside Eren’s mouth, claiming it or more like violating it until Eren’s short moans started to reach an octave higher. Levi pulled away just as quickly as he had attacked, kissing his way down Eren’s neck and chest until he could settle on his knees. Water poured down Levi’s back as he looked up almost innocently at Eren while massaging his upper thighs. The kid had tensed up and was staring at him with wide eyes.

“Is this alright?” Levi asked with a frown, since it seemed every muscle in Eren’s body had become tense.

“Yeah of course!” he answered quickly, though it didn’t seem like he was lying. “Just…don’t bite y’know…” Eren dragged out and Levi chuckled slightly. The vampire didn’t know why he found these little remarks so amusing. Most likely because this was the first time he was going down on a human who actually knew he was a vampire.

Levi gave a few firm strokes, bringing Eren up to full hardness before experimentally swirling his tongue over the head of it. Above he heard Eren sigh loudly and bump his head against the glass cabin. It was also quite a long time since Levi went down on someone, since he preferred it the other way around. Now he couldn’t remember why, because hearing Eren losing his mind as Levi took him fully in his mouth was making him feel powerful in a completely new way. It was because of him that Eren’s panting was getting irregular; it was because of his tongue sliding on the underside of his dick that had Eren slightly thrusting his hips. Levi was getting turned on just thinking about it, making him take Eren even deeper and faster. He wanted to hear and see him come undone completely; he had to see those few seconds of pure bliss on Eren’s face.

The vampire heard himself groan as Eren pulled on his hair harshly, pushing his head to go deeper to the point where Levi slightly gagged. Levi brought up his hand to stroke the base of his dick, while his other hand pushed down on Eren’s hips. Eren was lost between moans and gasps, his knees starting to shake as Levi was almost clumsily sucking him off as hard as he could. Levi felt Eren tugging on his hair harshly a few times and pulled his mouth off just in time. Few seconds later Eren screwed his eyes shut, tilted his head back and almost screamed as he spilled over Levi’s hand.

Eren was still regaining consciousness while Levi smiled to himself, washing his hand in the stream. His other hand traveled to his own leaking member, not being able to hold back from touching himself after seeing a sight like that. Eren hauled him up once his head stopped spinning, but didn’t stop Levi from jerking off.

Levi simply rested his forehead against Eren’s shoulders as he just stopped giving a shit. As of right now he didn’t care if Eren sucked or jacked him off or let him fuck him, he was too god damn turned on to care how he came as long as he did.

The vampire kept nuzzling his face in Eren’s shoulder while his hand was at work, when Eren drew him back slightly.

“No, I want to see you.” He stated simply, his eyes were heavy and pupils still blown from the recent release. Levi had no choice but to oblige. He had to admit, he didn’t think Eren had that sort of kink in him, to watch someone getting off, but Levi kept staring back at him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked daringly.

“You. How you looked when I made you come. And all the different ways I can do that again.” Levi replied boldly and it seemed like Eren shuddered. Levi’s stomach suddenly tightened and he threw his head back involuntarily, moaning. He kept his hand on Eren’s shoulder for support as he began to slightly trash around from the buildup. Vaguely Levi remembered hearing Eren hushing words of encouragement, urging him to come, but Levi was way ahead of him. His knees buckled and for a moment he thought he was going to fall, but Eren held him steady by the waist as he spilled all over his hand and for a moment he felt like collapsing on the shower floor, where he could rest or maybe take a nap.

When Levi was done seeing white spots in his vision, Eren was already gently rubbing his back with the shower sponge. They took turns helping each other wash up, mostly because it was another excuse to keep touching rather than the act of cleaning. No more words were spoken between them in the shower cabin. Somehow both of them knew what needed to be said and the fucked up shit that was looming over them. However, at the same time they were trying to ignore it and enjoy the current moment, imagining that the fogged up shower cabin was hiding them from the rest of the world.

Levi felt sort of stupid because he kept clutching the kid like he didn’t want him to go, yet at the same time he didn’t know what he would do if Eren stayed, or why did he even want him to stay in the first place. He felt so human again and it infuriated him, because he wasn’t human and he needed to goddamn remember that. Because no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t ignore Eren’s scent and the way it made his stomach growl from time to time, or simply forget all the lives he had taken for the sake of food or his fucked up sense of justice. The more these thought circled in the vampire’s head, the tighter he held Eren against him.

Both of them got out and dressed up still in complete silence. Though, the silence kept getting heavier and harder to bear as the time kept passing. Both of them took a few more opportunities to feel each other’s skin underneath their finger tips as they were helping each other dry up.

“You can sleep in my room until it gets dark if you want, I have better blinds there.” Eren’s voice finally pierced the silence as they went out of the bathroom and Eren had taken Sasha from his room and locker her up in the kitchen. “I still have to go to work today, so um, I’m leaving you with a spare key.” He explained plainly, avoiding looking at Levi now that they were out of the bathroom. Levi was impressed the kid remembered they need more sleep than humans do.

“Thanks.” Levi mumbled taking the key from Eren. “So we really do forget this ever happened?” Levi clarified with a calm face.

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t go on pretending it never happened.” Eren scratched the back of his head, half of his body already facing towards the front door. “Because that’s sort of like lying to yourself, y’know? So I- I’m not gonna deny it, but I don’t think it should happen again, at least or a while.” Eren dropped and not hearing a reply from Levi, left the apartment. Levi was left standing there in his plain boxers in the hallway, before sighing and going to the room next to the bathroom which he presumed was Eren’s room.

Eren had already drawn the bluish blinds for Levi, while he was still drying himself in the bathroom so the room seemed gloomier and sort of lifeless now that Eren had left. It was quite a simple room in the furniture sense, sort of like Levi’s, the exception was the slightly cluttered desk and a few posters on his walls from bands that Levi didn’t recognize.

The vampire flopped down on the cold sheets or Eren’s soft bed, thinking over what he had just told him. He almost hated the fact that the kid was so blatantly honest with him, always trying to do the right thing like the naïve kid that he was. No. the thing that pissed him off most was that he was perfectly aware of how naïve and sometimes pointless his actions and beliefs were, yet he still didn’t let go of them. He could’ve been selfish and said fuck it and well…continued to fuck Levi simply because he wanted to. He could’ve ran away from this situation like he planned to when he found out about them, he could’ve not written blog entries about criminals still at large because of the danger he put himself in, and he could’ve turned out like Levi. He was screwed over by the world just like the vampire yet he managed to get the fuck over it and try to do some good instead of shutting himself away. It felt like Eren was the better version of Levi. That was why he was so fucking mad, not because he resented Eren being better than him, but because it was making him change, it was making him want to become like him.

…

Complete darkness met his eyes when Levi opened them. He had fallen asleep in the same position when he had flopped down on the bed. It was dead quiet and it took a few seconds for the vampire to remember where he was and why he was there. Levi rummaged around his clothes at the foot of the bed until he found his phone in his pocket which read that it was a little after 2am as well as a text from Hanji asking where he was.

Levi got up as quietly as he could and as he had suspected, Eren was sleeping on the living room couch. His first thought was that maybe Eren didn’t want any more close contact with Levi, but then he realized he was hogging the entire bed in his sleep. Even if Eren wanted to get under the sheets with him, he couldn’t have done so without waking him up.

After taking one more look at the soundlessly sleeping Eren, Levi took off and ventured back to his own place. He was already mentally preparing himself to deal with Hanji, when he heard commotion behind their doors before even reaching them. As he got closer he realized it was Hanji and Jean, though he couldn’t properly make out what was going on.

“Jean, please calm down!” Levi heard Hanji pleading as he opened the door. It seemed the action was happening in his room. Why did his room suddenly become a hotspot for life dramas?

“You don’t understand! You don’t even remember anything, how can you possibly say that you fucking understand?” Jean exploded as Levi picked up the pace and entered the room. Jean was pacing across the room clutching his head. Levi wouldn’t have passed up the chance to mock his newly dyed black hair, but the kid seemed in hysterics. Hanji was standing by the door and sighed in relief upon seeing Levi. The vampire gave her a questioning look and Hanji lead him out of the room temporarily.

“I woke up like an hour ago to the sound of some like things crashing so I came to your room and Jean was just going berserk and breaking his own things, mumbling and then shouting stuff like ‘this is so fucked up’ and  ‘why did this happen to me’ also there was something about that Marco person? But I couldn’t really understand.” Hanji explained in one breath. “I think he’s like coming to realize what he’s become like _really_ realize.”

“Shit, you don’t say.” Levi dropped as he heard Jean throw something across the room. If horseface touched his laptop or any of his things, he didn’t give a shit what sort of existential crisis he was enduring, that was not excusable.

“I’ve tried talking to him and calming him down, but well you heard how he responded.” Hanji frowned with a guilty look on her face. “I don’t know, maybe you can- why the hell do you have Eren’s scent all over you?” She asked suddenly with a curious smile playing on her lips. Levi simply rolled his eyes and entered his room to face the raging newborn.

“Hey, tantrum boy, you wanna stop hulking out for a while and sit the fuck down?” Levi dropped already out of patience with this kid. Hanji gave him a grumpy look from across the room. Levi sighed. Fuck, he hated dealing with newborns. “I mean, Jean hey, what’s going on?” he tried again and Jean finally lifted his head, acknowledging Levi’s presence.

“What’s going on?” He repeated mockingly. “My goddamn life is over, that’s what’s going on!” Jean exploded.

“And you’re realizing this only now?” Levi asked raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, this can’t be it.” Jean continued pacing, dragging his hands over his mouth. “There’s gotta be like some sort of cure, there has to be an exit route to this mess, right?” he asked desperately. “I didn’t fucking deserve this!”

“Yeah there is.” Levi replied calmly and Jean’s head jerked up with hope. “It’s a silver dagger through your heart. Or any other place honestly, the blood infection will kill you eventually.” Levi dropped and Jean was back to pacing across the room. “And no you didn’t deserve this, but none of us did either, you’re no special case.”

“So what you just fucking shrug it off like, oh one day I’m a human, working at a fucking cheesy ass sandwich place and the next day I’m the reason kids ask their parents to check under their beds.” Jean snapped sarcastically. “This isn’t life, this isn’t living.” Jean mumbled to himself, tears almost threatening to fall.

“You’re right, this ain’t living, because you’re not alive to begin with.” Levi returned impatiently. “Yes, you’re a figure of nightmares now, yes, things will never be the same as they were before and yes it isn’t fucking fair. You can sit here moping about it, blaming the world and feeling sorry for yourself for decades for all I care, but no amount of kicked over chairs or tears is going to change who you are or change the fact that one day, inevitably, you’ll have to accept yourself.”

“Levi, you don’t have to push him like that.” Hanji retorted worriedly as Jean was staring at him with wide eyes.

“Or you can pick up your shit and start getting the fuck over it, ‘cause that’s the only fucking cure unless you want to kick the bucket, and you wouldn’t be the first newborn to do it.”

“Levi-“

“No it doesn’t happen overnight or a week, that’s why you need to move out as quickly as you can.” Levi ignored Hanji and kept going. He took a few steps towards Jean. “You’re not human and you won’t ever will be. I’ve already told you, the sooner that thought gets to you, the better off you’ll be.” Jean kept staring with his mouth hanging slightly open as Levi left his room, Hanji following him close by.

“You didn’t have to be so mean to him.” Hanji remarked once they were in the kitchen. Levi took out a bottle of Mr. Hemmings’s blood, he wanted something bitter today.

“I told him what he needed to hear.” Levi shrugged, feeling glad that no sound was coming from his room anymore.

“Yeah but…you could’ve phrased it nicer you know?” Hanji argued.

“Why? What’s the point?” Levi asked honestly while Hanji sighed.

“It’s hard to believe you were ever human.” Hanji laughed darkly. Levi frowned, of course he understood compassion and sympathy, but he didn’t see them as signs of humanity. He didn’t understand what was the point of beating around the bush. “This raises a serious question though.” Hanji added with a tired sigh. Levi nodded seriously, perhaps they needed to keep Jean under their roof for a little while longer, despite how much Levi hated it. The last thing they wanted to deal with was sudden aggressive outbreaks of the newborn, especially since it was very common. It happened to Levi, to Erwin and hell he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened to Hanji as well.

“Yeah, maybe we’ll talk with Erwin-“

“You and Eren did it, right?” Hanji asked as seriously as ever, eyes full of curiosity. Levi sighed defeated. “Ha! I knew it!” she exclaimed. “I thought there was something fishy about you not coming back home after training.” She explained, clearly proud of her deduction.

“Calm down you freak, it’s not that big of a deal.” Levi rolled his eyes.

“Not that big of a-?” she repeated outraged. “Are you kidding me?! The whole set up is so dramatic- oh and what happened with Jean- and Eren living here- it sounds like some funky novel!” she jumped in her seat, rambling overenthusiastically.

“So the lives of three humans and three-now four- vampires were ruined, and you’re thinking of becoming the next Stephanie Meyers.” Levi deadpanned in an overly sarcastic flat tone.

“Oh, but not quite yet.” She rambled on, not getting the reference. “I need to know more, so tell me all the details!” she beamed, slightly shaking Levi by his damaged arm, while he winced.

“Please don’t.” A small voice pleaded from Levi’s room.

“I’m gonna leave that up for your imagination.” Levi said, taking a sip from his wine glass.

“But what’s going to happen now?” Hanji kept rambling on. “Are you guys like together?”

“Yeah, he announced it on facebook, so I guess it’s getting pretty serious.” Levi nodded seriously.

“Oh c’mon don’t leave me hanging!” Hanji pleaded.

“It’s really none of your business.” Levi raised an eyebrow all-knowingly.

“Pft, fine, I’ll guess I’ll ask Eren instead.” Hanji crossed her legs with a smug smile on her face. Damn her. Levi forgot she knew how to push his buttons as well.

“We’re not. That’s all I’m gonna say on this matter.” Levi sighed, putting down his glass and feeling his fangs go back to their place.

“Alright alright, I won’t prod you mister ‘it’s complicated’.” Hanji rolled her eyes with a cheeky smile. “But you did it more than once right?” she wiggled her eyebrows. “I mean that’s why you came back only today?” Levi merely sighed, putting his head in his hands. “I bet he was like really fussy and bold in bed, that’s the first impression I had of him and I’m rarely wrong.” She went on, talking to herself. “Was there any kinky stuff though? Did you-“

“For the love of god, please stop.” Jean pleaded louder this time and Levi had to suppress a laugh.

…

Levi held his ground and didn’t tell Hanji any more about what happened. Though he was tempted at one point, just so he could annoy and most likely mentally scar Jean. They talked it over with Erwin, but decided to let Jean go either way. They have a few friends in Toronto where Jean was planning on heading. If things got out of control, they’d be able to handle it. Levi smiled to himself thinking it would probably take just one scary look from Mike and Jean would fold up like a lawn chair.

Hanji talked to Jean again once he had properly calmed down, had some sleep and some food. Apparently he had started to pack his things to leave when the realization of what was actually happening hit him. Levi wouldn’t say he was surprised, he knew there was something off about the way Jean was reacting to his new self. Jean was right, you don’t just shrug out of being human, changes like that take time. Though, to be honest, he didn’t care if he was still upset about it, as long as his things weren’t getting thrown across the room, Jean could do whatever the fuck he wanted to do.

Levi had enough shit of his own. He couldn’t bring himself to care about Jean’s drama, not when he was trying to learn how to let go of his own past and his own wrongdoings. He still found it ridiculous that Eren believe he deserved a second chance. How the fuck could he? He willingly destroyed another person from the inside. How the fuck was he just supposed to get over that? Levi thought, stopping for a moment on his way home, looking through a simple apartment window where a fragile young girl with hair black as coal was soundly sleeping in her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since you guys had to wait so long i put in another smut scene bc who doesn't love smut scenes lets face it


	15. Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey what do ya know, I'm not dead or anything, and the chapter is here. Sigh I've been making excuses every single time I was late and I just don't see the point in doing that anymore, it's the same story really, busy week, blah blah blah oh and I turned 19 yay, but at this point, I'm just happy I got the chapter out to you at all. For updates and additional info go here http://mamabro.tumblr.com/tagged/vampfic

“Should we raise a glass or something?” Eren asked uncertainly, looking around the full room of people and well the non-people. Actually it was more like a room full of non-people and Armin.

“I guess it’s customary… should we have thrown a farewell party?” Hanji asked thoughtfully, looking at Levi. Because naturally when faced with a debate on human customs, one should turn to the undead being whose wisdom comes from bad TV shows.

“Well it wouldn’t have killed you.” Jean muttered under his breath stubbornly, while zipping up his suitcase. There was another one, already stuffed to the fullest resting near the door. A week had passed after their meeting when they decided Jean’s fate. He was moving to Toronto, Mike had set up a spare room for him. A few days ago he received his fake passport and other documents, and now even officially he wasn’t Jean anymore.

“Too late for that now.” Levi shrugged. He just wanted the kid gone already. Meanwhile Erwin had went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of Levi’s special wine, the one with the spices, and got all the vamps a glass. Levi was going to say something about his special wine being used. It was over 5 years old and he had to go great lengths to kill that bastard and get his blood. He was some sort of government official or an ambassador, Levi couldn’t remember, but it took him weeks of planning to get to him. He was saving his blood for special occasions, but he figured that to everyone else this was a big deal so he put effort in keeping his mouth shut.

“We still have time until they pick you up.” The vampire leader noted, leading them all to Levi’s kitchen, which was just big enough to fit all of them. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we have anything else…” Erwin trailed off uncomfortably looking at Eren and Armin after pouring the vampires some blood. All the food that Levi had bought so that they would seem human was used up or thrown out. The only drinks in the house were blood and tap water. This time even Levi felt slightly uncomfortable because of that.

“It’s fine.” Armin hurried to assure with a small smile. He had barely spoken a word the entire evening when Jean was packing up. Of course, he was never the one to talk a lot and kept more to himself. Levi hadn’t even heard him complain or whine about the self defense training even though Erwin was a strict teacher. But this time his silence was almost unusual, like he was mourning. Levi guessed everyone had their own way of coping.

“You can always try mine.” Jean smiled smugly, raising his wine glass towards his friends. Both of them wrinkled their noses and took a few steps back. “It smells pretty damn good.” He kept going, while Eren visibly shuddered. Levi wondered if he was recalling the day when he accidentally took a sip of it. Yet the small gesture broke the somewhat awkward tension in the room as Hanji and Erwin laughed and even Levi smiled just barely.

“So we should raise a toast.” Erwin declared, raising his wine glass a little, the rest of the vampires followed. “To Jean, who is about to face the greatest adventure, burden, and challenge of his existence. May you get only what’s best out of it, grow stronger and wiser but never truly lose who you are.” Erwin finished poetically with a small smile. Both of the kids looked taken aback yet impressed with the small speech, while Jean was hiding the fact that he was touched behind an unconvincing snarky smile.

“Oh and also, may you never grow bored of this world and its wonders.” Hanji added dramatically.

“And may you never have to go through actually killing someone.” Levi dropped seriously, sloshing the blood in his glass. “If you stay true to yourself, you’ll annoy them to death anyway.” Levi shrugged with a smug smile on his face while the room burst into laughter. Well except for Jean who rolled his eyes and tried to act offended yet his smile kept peaking through.

Simultaneously the vampires’ eyes turned white as the glass met their lips. The taste was just as good as Levi thought it would be. It had just the right amount of a spicy kick from the spices, which made the blood taste even stronger.

“Ah what lovely taste.” Jean commented in a poor imitation of Dracula’s voice.

“Really Jean? Every time?” Eren rolled his eyes at his friend. Levi was hiding a small smile behind his glass. It was true, even during his first feeding, when he was sweating and freaking out, Jean didn’t pass up the chance to do a Dracula impersonation.

“But my darling, I cannot help it, the blood of- ah fuck.”

“Bit your lip with your fangs?” Levi asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Jean muttered looking at the ground and sucking on his lip while everyone else giggled.

“It’s alright. It’s happened to all of us.” Erwin assured with a small smile.

“Pft, biting your lip is nothing! Try accidentally biting your tongue with those. That side of my tongue was swollen for days.” Hanji shuddered at the memory. Levi remembered it too, it was hilarious. He had tried to get her to speak as much as possible throughout those days. Asking her how her day was and asking about her conspiracy theories, just to hear her try to lisp through it.

“I don’t think something as stupid as that is going to happen to me.” Jean mocked with his mouth full of his own blood.

“Says the idiot who’s wearing a watch that has silver in it.” Levi mocked, while the newborn looked down at his left wrist.

“What’s the big deal if I do?” Jean shrugged. “It’s not like anyone’s going to shove it through my heart.” He waved it off casually, but caught on the urgent looks that Hanji and Erwin were wearing.

“Jean, you shouldn’t toy with that.” Erwin warned. “It doesn’t matter that it won’t go through your heart. Any sort of contact your blood might have with silver can prove at the very least toxic if not lethal.”

“What the hell does that supposed to mean?” Jean asked frowning. He wasn’t the brightest cookie in the jar.

“Well it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Armin peeped up from the corner.

“How?!” Jean asked outraged. “Or did I miss a class in biology when you were covering the weaknesses of undead beings?”

“It has nothing to do with the supernatural.” Armin frowned but kept his voice steady and calm as to not anger Jean any more. Levi figured Jean knew on some level that he wasn’t that bright, yet that didn’t stop him from getting incredibly offended once it was even hinted. “When I first found out that the reason vampires are immortal and stronger than humans is the venom that flows in their veins, I realized that the venom is some sort of chemical compound like everything else with its own set of features. Naturally, it should have a counter element or compound which can neutralize it. When Hanji mentioned silver it became obvious. It’s nothing paranormal or mythical it’s plain chemistry. When silver comes in contact with the venom in a vampire’s blood, it makes the venom dissolve or at least lose its properties. I’m not quite sure which is it though, that would require some uh experimentation.” Armin rambled with excitement and slight pride twinkling in his eyes. A small silence settled in once he had finished.

“Well it wasn’t that obvious to me.” Eren laughed slightly, amazed by his friend.

“Did you really figure that out by yourself?” Erwin asked equally as amazed.

“Yeah, well it’s not that difficult once you put two and two together.” The blond shrugged, looking down at the ground, getting intimidated by everyone’s stares.

“Oh my god you’re precious.” Hanji almost squeaked reaching from her seat to hug Armin tightly around his shoulders. “Can I keep him?” she asked looking up at Levi at Erwin as everyone else was trying to hold in their laughter. “Can you just imagine what we could achieve together? With my research and his brain we could take over the world!” She rambled.

“Let the kid go, four-eyes.” Levi was the only one not laughing, instead he simply rolled his eyes. It would’ve been funny for him if he hadn’t been living with this maniac for over a decade.

Hanji simply stuck out her tongue, but let go of Armin nonetheless. He was red in the face and looked downright uncomfortable from the sudden embrace.

“Alright alright, fine. You bunch of nerds convinced me.” Jean concluded taking off his watch. “Here, take care of it for me.” He handed it to Eren mindlessly. Levi wondered if Jean realized he was simply giving it away, since it wasn’t very likely they’d see each other again.

“Cool, I could use a few bucks.” Eren responded, fiddling with the watch, which earned him a nice shove in the shoulder from Jean.

“So Jean are you excited?” Hanji asked, after taking a sip of her drink.

“Hell yeah!” Jean exclaimed, which made Hanji smile even wider. “I mean it’s sort of scary too, but in a good way y’know?” he added more to himself.

“Well it’s only natural.” Erwin shrugged. “You’re turning a completely new leaf in your life, well in your undead life that is.” He corrected himself quickly.

“Yeah, I’m thinking of going to Europe eventually. To Transylvania and shit, see what the whole Dracula deal is about.” Jean added wishfully.

“You do know Transylvania isn’t a country right?” Levi asked with a straight face. “That it’s a region in Romania?”

“Um, of course I do.” Jean scoffed unconvincingly to which Levi raised an eyebrow in question.

“I just have to say, in all the newborns I’ve had, you’re the least troublesome, you should be proud of that.” Erwin praised. Of course, he didn’t know about Jean’s little freak out a week ago.

“Well what can I say, some people are just stronger than others.” Jean’s self pride grew from the praise as he crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head.

“Did you have a lot of newborns?” Eren asked curiously, leaning forward in his seat.

“I used to, especially in the 17-18th centuries. They were mostly strays or accidentally made vampires like Jean here. Most of them didn’t even know what they had become and most importantly why. I could only imagine how terrible it must’ve felt. Waking up, seeing your body move and breathe like it was alive, though something inside told you it’s not. It’s like you’re misplaced from the world and from your mind.” Erwin was staring off into space. Levi caught Eren glancing at him for a moment. Levi was probably the only newborn who stayed with Erwin longer than necessary. “So I tried to do my part and help them in the only way I could, by educating them, helping them find their own path.” The leader dragged on. Eren didn’t seem surprised, he probably already knew that Erwin used to be a university professor when he was still human.

“He is _so_ Angel.” Hanji commented suddenly, staring intently at Erwin.

“What?” The leader’s head perked up.

“For the last time, no one is Angel in this scenario.” Levi sighed tiredly.

“Uhm, but technically aren’t you all Angels?” Eren frowned thoughtfully. “I mean what makes Angel different is that he has a soul right? And that he’s not a demon. Well last time I checked you still had like souls and you’re not demons.” Eren shrugged.

“Hmm… interesting idea!” Hanji perked up in her seat.

“Why are you encouraging her?” Levi asked Eren with a betrayed look.

“There’s no such thing as a soul. It’s a religious concept.” Armin interrupted a bit more cautiously this time.

“I’m with Armin on this one.” Erwin nodded.

“Oh god it’s like I’m at the official geek convention of New York.” Jean whined, finishing drinking his blood.

“But we already settled that Levi is Spike.” Hanji added as an afterthought, ignoring Jean completely.

“Really?” Erwin leaned forward, squinting his eyes at Levi, while Jean whined again dramatically. “I guess I can see it.” Levi felt he could pull a muscle from how much he wanted to roll his eyes again.

“Yeah, see, when he turns his head like that, you can see the resemblance clearly.” Hanji nodded, motioning to his face. The vampire merely scoffed and looked away with a pissed off face. You know Erwin could’ve gotten him a puppy, a cat or even a goddamn fish for Levi so he wouldn’t feel alone. No, he had to get him the sociopath geek.

“Hey you really can.” Eren laughed slightly, getting up from his chair to look at Levi.

“Do I look like a fucking museum exhibition to you people?” Levi snapped angrily. The room burst into laughter however.

“Oh my god, that _is_ Spike!” Even Armin exclaimed while everyone else kept laughing. The sound of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal interrupted their laughter and Jean’s laughter ceased instantly. Hanji went to answer her phone while still giggling. Levi didn’t even need his hearing to tell that the van was here. Jean and Levi shared a look. While everyone else was still giggling, both of them knew this was it.

“Uhm alright, he’ll be right down then.” Hanji assured before hanging up, her face wasn’t radiating like it was just a few seconds ago. “This is your cue Jean, or should I say Frank.” Hanji clarified giving him his new documents from the counter in the hallway.

Everyone else got up from their seats and shuffled their way into the hallway silently. They were so lost in the current moment of silly shenanigans that the phone call hit like a ton of bricks. Levi was reluctant to admit he was startled by the sudden change of mood as well.

Suddenly no one knew what to say anymore. Jean had put on his shoes and black simple coat, all that was left for him to do was turn around and leave, but he was lingering, waiting for something. It seemed unfitting to repeat their wishes and farewells yet again, though the silence was also almost suffocating them. Levi included.

“Uh so I guess this is it.” Jean laughed a bit shakily, trying to pass it off as a joke. Eren and Armin seemed locked in their place. “Thanks for like, well everything really.” He added unconvincingly lightly.

“Take care.” Hanji was the first one to break the ice, going in for a hug. Jean returned the embrace uncertainly. “Remember what I taught you.” She added, taking a step back. Erwin went in for a simple handshake, not saying anything else, which Levi thought was a good thing.

“Ha you two little nerds.” Jean turned to Eren and Armin. “I know for sure it’ll be a relief not seeing your fugly face every day, Jaeger.” He joked, but Levi could see he was starting to tear up. “Or keep hearing your nerdy rambles about how you’re smarter than me.”

Jean hadn’t finished saying that when both of his friends came in for a joint embrace. The newborn finally shut up and returned the hug, his friends didn’t feel the need to say anything else. Levi felt awkward again while staring at them. It was a deeply personal moment, one that was alien to him, kind of like the one during Jean’s funeral. He glanced at his own family and saw Hanji and Erwin looking away from them as well.

The three of them finally separated, Armin was furiously wiping his eyes while the other two laughed softly, despite the fact that they were both teary eyed as well. Lastly Jean turned to Levi, which he didn’t expect.

“Thanks for like helping me, I’ll remember the things you said.” Jean nodded to himself. “And uh thanks for tolerating the fact that I was around.” Jean smiled honestly, which was a strange and uncommon sight.

“I never did.” Levi deadpanned, leaning against the hallway wall. Jean’s smile dropped slightly and he was ready to turn around, when Levi sighed tiredly. “You’ll be alright, kid.”

The newborn simply offered a half smile to that before turning around, grabbing his suitcases and going out the door swiftly, before anyone could say anything more. Maybe he couldn’t bare the sad farewells, or maybe because he would’ve changed his mind about leaving if he had stayed longer. Levi was never very good at the whole empathy thing, that was Hanji’s area.

For a minute or so everyone simply stood there, staring at the light wooden door like it was going to swing open any second even though even the echo of Jean’s footsteps were long gone. It was similar to how people stare at a coffin once it’s lowered in the ground and buried. Jean was there and now he was simply gone, this place and city was stripped of his existence, like he was never there in the first place. If it weren’t for the stained wine glass in the kitchen, a lonely tear rolling down Armin’s cheek or the hopeful look in Eren and Hanji’s eyes, it would be like he hadn’t existed at all.

Levi was the first to break the trance by going into his room. He had enough of gloomy moods for the night. He heard Erwin go to the kitchen to clean up, Armin left the apartment soon after as well, while Eren stayed because there was one more aspect of vampirism that Hanji hadn’t covered yet. Levi looked around his room and he wasn’t sure why his room still stank of life even though there were only vampires living in it. But there was a sort of vibrant energy around it, echoes of laughter and freak outs were still there and the room felt more alive than ever before.

Erwin had taken the courtesy to lead Armin out, which was a good idea to Levi’s mind. Apparently you can never be too careful with psychopathic immortal beings on the loose. Meanwhile Levi was doing the monthly patrol, as in surfing through the net, going through blogs and news articles which were somehow involved with Jean’s attack. It was a regular procedure once in a while, or more often when shit like this went down, not that shit on a scale as big as this one had ever went down for them.

Eren came by his room eventually, which was a bit surprising for Levi. For the past week, they tried to keep their relationship as official as they could, which the vampire found sort of stupid quite frankly.

“Hey, uhm is it alright if I crash here for the night? I’m pretty beat and home is far…” he trailed off looking a bit uncomfortable. Eren did look awful though. He had been on his feet at work from the early morning and went through emotional hell not even an hour ago.

“Sure. It’s your couch anyway.” Levi shrugged absentmindedly.

“Right. I’ll take it back tomorrow.” Eren promised quickly. “I’ll have to ask Armin to help me.” He added to himself quietly.

“It’s fine, I’ll help you.” Levi sighed. As smart as Armin was, he wasn’t very brawny. Levi remembered that Eren had asked Jean initially for the help.

“Thanks.” He answered automatically. Eren probably didn’t really hear him, he seemed pretty spaced out or tired or both.  

Nothing more was spoken between them as Eren silently made his bed and Levi was clicking away on his laptop. Eren seemed to bring the cloud of misery with him in the room, and whatever life Levi thought it held, was sucked out just like that. The suffocating silence was back and Levi found himself glancing more than once in the direction of the writer, whose eyes seemed blank. Levi wondered if he realized that this was the last time he ever saw Jean. From his slouched shoulders and uncoordinated movements Levi guessed yes. And even if he didn’t, this was still the second time Eren had to bury him in the past few weeks, both metaphorically and literally.

Eren had dressed down to his underwear and quickly went under the sheets, curling up into a ball and turning away from Levi. The vampire said nothing and went through completing his patrol, which was starting to bore him, because nothing good or even vaguely interesting was popping up. He was, however, confused by the fact that he wasn’t uncomfortable or irritated by someone else’s presence in his own personal room. In fact, now it felt almost normal to him. Quite frankly Levi wanted to laugh at himself, how two months ago he couldn’t bare if his date stayed after they were done, and now he didn’t know how he’ll get used to sleeping alone again.

Levi packed up his laptop and went under his own sheets as well an hour after as his sleep deprivation suddenly hit. He couldn’t keep his eyes open even if he wanted to. Though he could hear that Eren wasn’t asleep, driven by curiosity he once again glanced at the writer who wasn’t even hiding that he was awake. Eren was lying on his back, fiddling with Jean’s watch in his hands. This time he acknowledged Levi’s stare.

“We’re not gonna see him again are we?” Eren asked or more like stated in an even voice. Levi was only half awake by then, yet the words somehow reached him. After that he felt his own mouth opening.

“C’mere.” He mumbled sleepily. For a while there was nothing and Levi was pretty sure he only dreamt of saying that, but a minute later or two or maybe ten, who knew, he felt the mattress sink in a bit more and an incredible warmth settling in beside him. It felt sweeter and more comforting than the promise of sleep and dreams and Levi felt himself shuffling closer until he could wrap his hands around this warmth.

Eren’s head was resting on Levi’s chest, hands loosely wrapped around his torso as he laid there wide awake. Once Levi felt a few cold spots on his chest he came to realize Eren was probably crying. Levi hugged around his shoulders tightly, trying to be as close to this wonderful warmth as he could. Eren moved his head to the crook of Levi’s neck, returning the embrace just as strongly as their legs tangled together. Maybe he simply imagined it, maybe Eren wasn’t crying at all and Levi simply wanted to be close to him. Throughout his hazy sleepiness he couldn’t tell anymore and frankly he didn’t care. They drifted off to sleep like that, making it hard to understand who was comforting whom.


	16. A Night of Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Increadibly late once again, I'm very sorry for that, but I've got some news. Sadly, as all stories must end, I'm starting to see this story's ending clearer and clearer. There are going to be at least 5 more chapters on this don't worry. When I write down a proper plan, you should be able to see how much is left of it. Anyway, I'm thinking of not posting updates on my blog, because most of the time I feel like I'm just talking to a wall ha and it just takes up time I could be spending actually writing this story, but I'll still post Eren's and Levi's backstories when the time comes. Actually, I think after this one, I'll be posting Eren's. Okay enough of my ramblings, enjoy!

The vampire’s senses sharpened. The dark had engulfed his surroundings completely as it kept getting darker sooner every day. His nose started picking up a scent. They were right there, definitely somewhere here, hiding. The natural tracker instinct kicked in and suddenly Levi felt like a hunter again, seeking out his prey in the darkness, bending it to his own will. Levi moved stealthily towards the scent, trying to pick up any noises to help him and sure enough he picked up 3 other heartbeats. He took one cautious step after another towards them, trying not to make a sound and soon enough he could feel the edge of the couch with his fingers.

“No, you can’t hide here, we’re all cramped here as it is!” Eren hissed and Levi fell back with a grunt. “Go by the table or something, c’mon, he’ll be here any second.”

“We’re gonna jump out anyway and show ourselves. That’s the point isn’t it, to scare him?” Levi replied mockingly.

“Oh my god Levi, just go.” Hanji ushered him impatiently and pushed him slightly. Levi almost fell to the ground and ripped his blazer. God he hated wearing official clothes.

The vampire suddenly started to pick up another heartbeat and footsteps coming closer.

“Just scoot over you idiot.” Levi pushed back.

“No, this is our hiding spot, get out.” Hanji kept wrestling him. “It’s your fault you took so long in the bathroom, what were you doing? Powdering your dead nose?”

“Can you two stop, he’s coming!” Eren hushed, but the vampires kept fighting. Suddenly everything went white in the vampire’s eyes and the sudden change of light sent pain straight to his head.

“Surprise!” Eren and Erwin shouted jumping out of their hiding spots while Hanji and Levi fell to the ground while fighting.

“Uhm, surprise!” Hanji added a few seconds afterwards, realizing what had happened. Nonetheless Armin had still jumped back slightly and he was now breathing deeply and smiling widely at his friends. Levi was still on the ground, his hair messy and with a Hanji thing clinging on to his blazer. The thing quickly got off of him though and hugged the blond tight, wishing him happy birthday. She was wearing tight black shorts with green stockings and a matching loose green shirt, tucked messily into her shorts. Gold colored jewelry on her neck, wrists and ears nicely accented the green of her clothes and eyes.

Armin didn’t seem alarmed, nor confused by their little fight. Instead, his face was glowing, while he was taking off his coat.

“Oh my god!” The blond exclaimed in wonder looking around the apartment which was filled with balloons and streamers along with drinks and cake on the table in the living room. “I can’t believe you guys did this.” Armin couldn’t stop smiling, looking around the apartment.

“Happy birthday, Armin.” Eren went over for a hug, also putting a party hat on his head. The writer was dressed the most casually out of them with simple jeans and a brown band t-shirt, which made Levi think why the hell didn’t he just go with his leather jacket.  Meanwhile Levi got up from the ground after shoving off Hanji, who was now busy relishing in the success of the surprise part of the surprise birthday party.

Levi understood how it was their duty to protect these kids and make sure they were well and most importantly kept their mouths shut. However, he didn’t see how that involved social gatherings and a fucking blazer for crying out loud, why did he have to wear this shit? At least he managed to keep the party hat away from his hair.

“You guys shouldn’t have…”Armin dragged on modestly, looking around the place Eren and Hanji spent half the day cleaning and decorating. Levi would’ve helped too except he didn’t want to.

“It’s fine, hey everyone deserves a good 23rd birthday right?” Eren patted him on the back.

“Well at least I hope mine won’t end the same way Connie’s did.” Armin smiled slightly and Eren laughed from the inside joke they were sharing.

“Oh my god, it took him weeks to get the smell out of his apartment.” Eren remembered. “Too bad he couldn’t make it here, he’s out of town with work or something. And Marco…well he’s still pretty shaken up about everything, but he said he wishes you the best!” Eren added quickly right after.

“Oh…I mean yeah, I got a message from him earlier today, it’s cool.” Armin brushed it off. They were obviously and painfully avoiding the Jean subject. If Levi hadn’t been personally involved in it, he probably would’ve rolled his eyes right about now. But in a way he got it, even after all this time, breaking a tie between someone you’ve been close with was still harsh. Well… Levi didn’t really miss Jean all that much, he just understood the taboo surrounding his name now. He was starting to get the hang of this empathy thing, especially after that warm night of sleep with Eren a week back.

Erwin and Hanji were standing around a bit awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with themselves. God knows, this was probably the first real party they’ve been to in centuries, well at least Erwin for sure.

“Oh you even got a cake and everything!” Armin fussed coming inside the living room. “But if it’s gonna be just the two of us, what are you guys gonna-“ Armin trailed off uncomfortably, looking at the 3 vampires.

“It’s fine, we all had big lunches back at home.” Hanji brushed it off, rubbing her belly to show they were stuffed. _Huh, speak for yourself woman_ , Levi thought bitterly. He wouldn’t mind a good snack. “I mean from blood bags, not uhm humans…I mean the blood is from humans, but we didn’t kill any-“

“They get it, nut brain.” Levi rolled his eyes, flopping down on the couch. Eren and Armin weren’t saying anything only because they were amused by Hanji’s ramblings.

“Okay so can Armin open his presents now?” Hanji added, pretending not to hear Levi. Armin looked at all of the guests with wide eyes, while Erwin went into the other room to get them.

“You guys got me presents? Oh you shouldn’t have-“

“You can skip the talk, you’re getting your presents either way.” Eren interrupted with a small laugh.

“Oh thank god, gimme then!” Armin sighed relieved and made grabby hands towards his presents to which everyone laughed or at least cracked a smile. By then everyone had settled in around the living room table like one big dysfunctional and fucked up family.

“Okay this one is from me.” Hanji impatiently tore one of the largest gift bags from Erwin’s hands. She turned around facing Armin with a beaming face and it seemed the birthday kid was already preparing himself for the uncomfortable.

“And me.” Levi added quickly, yet he didn’t bother to get up from the couch and give it to him with Hanji. He didn’t have any idea what to get for the kid, nor did he have the money for that matter. So instead he nagged Hanji into letting him pitch in with her.

Hanji just sort of shoved the gift in Armin’s lap and waited for him to open it. Levi was pretty sure Hanji was more eager than Armin at this point. The blond carefully looked into the bag as if it could contain explosives. Levi didn’t blame him, with Hanji you could never be sure. Instead though, his blue eyes widened and he looked up at Hanji with wonder.

“Holy shit, a lava lamp?” He exclaimed, taking it out of the bag, Hanji spent quite some time cleaning it and renewing it. It was still glowing red like it was supposed to, though you could see it was an old thing from the slightly bent and scruffy edges.

“Yeah! It’s from 1993, so it’s pretty uhm vintage, but it’s still got the funky glow and everything!” Hanji mussed over it. Levi was pretty sure he saw her even jump up a little from the excitement.

“That’s very cool, thank you so much Hanji! And uhm Levi.” Armin added with a small smile towards the vampire sitting next to him.

“Happy birthday, kid.” Levi merely nodded, managing to extract half a smile.

“Okay, next one is from me.” Eren announced, reaching behind the couch to take his present. It was a regular sized gift bag. “Before I give this to you, you have to promise to me that you’ll use it.” Eren instructed, holding the bag out of Armin’s reach.

“I can’t promise something like that!” Armin laughed.

“Well then I guess you’re not getting the gift.” Eren shrugged, putting the bag away with an innocent look on his face.

“Fine fine. Just give it.” Armin sighed in defeat. Eren smiled cheekily and handed him the present. With a suspicious glance towards Eren, he began taking the gifts out. First he stumbled upon a toy syringe, a bottle of pills which was filled with just mint candies and other kind of sweets shaped like medicine. Armin heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing them. “That’s so thoughtful oh my god, of course I’ll use them.” He laughed.

Meanwhile Levi was staring at the whole process with a frown on his face. He turned to Hanji and simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Armin’s in med school dumbass.” She muttered under her breath annoyed. Well how was he supposed to know? His efforts were limited towards the back stories of humans, he could only use them for one of them.

When Levi looked back, Armin wasn’t smiling anymore, just staring numbly at the last part of his gift in the bag, while Eren burst into laughter.

“You promised, you can’t take it back now.” Eren reminded him as Armin took out a sexy nurse Halloween costume out of the bag.

“You can’t be serious.” Armin shook his head with a frightened look on his face.

“I think the patients are gonna be lining up to see you.” Hanji wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, while Armin’s face grew bright red. “Hey look, it’s even your size!” Hanji exclaimed upon studying the costume herself. Levi couldn’t help himself and laughed as well. He had to admit, it was a clever present.

“It was Jean’s idea, he’s a fucking birthday gift wizard.” Eren laughed, not really thinking about what he was saying. Though, the sudden fall of his smile suggested he realized it quite soon. “Uhm yeah, this is a gift from both me and Jean.” He added with a less enthusiastic voice.

“Yeah, I somehow figured.” Armin replied lightly, to which everyone was glad. The last thing this birthday party needed was depressive sulking over Jean, like they hadn’t had enough of it during this week. “Good thing Halloween is already over.” Armin added with a laugh.

“Hey! That doesn’t mean I’ll just forget about it, you can wear it during new years.” Eren explained gleefully and Armin looked like he regretted opening his mouth.

“And I guess my present is the last.” Erwin shyly peeped up from the corner of the couch as he stood up. Levi was surprised he didn’t try to pitch in with them as well. In fact, once Eren had brought up the subject of Armin’s birthday, Erwin thought of the present almost instantly.

It was a considerably smaller bag, compared to Hanji’s, Erwin simply handed it to him without saying anything. Armin was smiling as he curiously looked inside the bag. Though suddenly there was a frown and his smile vanished as he took out a smallish and incredibly worn out book from the bag. Eren leaned over to see what it was, even Levi didn’t resist the urge to slightly lean closer so he could subtly glance at the title. It was written in German, but despite that it was clear that-

“This is a book on alchemy.” Armin muttered under his breath, his gaze still frozen and his fingers carefully gliding against the rough surface of the book.

“It’s actually one of the oldest and personally my favorite alchemy books on the properties of metal, since this is how I realized silver was our kryptonite.” Erwin explained. “It’s from 1556 so it’s pretty torn up I know. I took it from my university library back when I was teaching there. I mean I intended to return it, but…” Erwin trailed off with a small laugh. Now Armin wasn’t the only one who was wearing a frown. Levi couldn’t believe Erwin was simply opening up about a piece of his past like that. Perhaps the recent events shook up not only the humans.

“This is…wow, uhm, I don’t know what to say.” Armin trailed off, staring at the ancient book. “I mean this is probably worth well… a lot.”

“I really don’t know about that.” Erwin shrugged innocently, though Levi could tell he was lying. “But it’s one of the bases of our today’s chemistry, and I thought you’d find it interesting.”

“Huh? I mean yes of course!” Armin shook out of it and finally looked up at Erwin. “This is incredible, wow just uhm thank you so much.” He smiled honestly, while his eyes were beaming. Erwin simply waved it off like it was no big deal. He, like Levi was wearing a blazer, except his was grey, on top of a simple white shirt and neat black pants. Levi was about to say something, that he was dressing way to formally for a birthday party, but he figured this _was_ a casual outfit for Erwin.

“Okay, now it’s time for cake, isn’t it?” Hanji jumped up excitedly.

“Uhm yeah, sure.” Eren frowned uncertainly. Erwin got up from his seat to go to the kitchen and get a knife.

“Calm down you freak, we’re not even gonna eat it.” Levi rolled his eyes. He understood that she was excited, but at the same time she was killing the party in his view.

“Geez, you don’t need to go all Spike on me.” Hanji put up her hands in defense.

“Oh don’t start.” Levi sighed tiredly.

“Yeah, Spike, she’s just excited, what’s wrong with that?” Eren piped up with a serious look on his face, while Hanji was biting down a smile.

“I _will_ beat your ass Jaeger.” Levi threatened with a harsh look on his face, which only made a cheeky smile appear on Eren’s face involuntarily.

“Oh c’mon, give him a break you guys.” Armin commented seriously, packing up his presents and putting them away. Levi sighed in relief, at least there was one who didn’t drive him to the edge. “All this teasing is just ruining Spike’s mood.” He finished with a half smile. Hanji and Eren were snickering, while Levi had put his face into his hands.

Erwin had come back into the room just then with a kitchen knife in his hands. He glanced around them with a confused look on his face.

“Hey what’s going on?” he asked with a smile towards the three who were still snickering. “What’s up with Spike?” he added, motioning to Levi.

…

 After the whole ceremony of candle lighting and wish making and cake cutting and eating, Eren put on the music and brought out the drinks. Of course only he and Armin could drink, but that was half of the fun of the party, watching the kids get wasted and do stupid shit.

The vampires had also agreed to participate in the whole process. It didn’t taste good, though from the looks on their faces, it didn’t look like it tasted any better to the humans. The alcohol had no effect on them whatsoever; except for making them want to pee.

“C’mon Armin, you have to take a shot for at least every person in this room.” Eren urged. He was only tipsy so his speech was still pretty coherent, except that everything was much more exciting to him. “Now do one for Levi.” He said, shoving the shot glass in Armin’s hand and lifting up his head in Levi’s direction. He locked his eyes with the vampire for only a few seconds, but the hungry look on Eren’s face was unmistakable. Alright, so maybe he was getting a little too excited.

“But what if I get sick?” Armin frowned childishly.

“Then we’ll sit back and enjoy the show we came to see here.” Levi replied smugly, looking right back at Eren, playing the little game.

“Hey it’s no fair, how come they get to stay sober? Isn’t there a way for you guys to get high?” Armin asked, slightly swaying in his seat after his 4th shot.

“We can get high.” Erwin nodded. “But the consequences are much harsher than a simple hangover.” He explained with a grim look on his face. Levi frowned. What in the name of hell happened to Erwin when he was away? The 70’s must’ve been one hell of a ride for him. Nonetheless he spoke the truth, while getting high was unbelievably awesome, the burnout was dreadful. Levi couldn’t get up from his bed sometimes for weeks; even the taste of blood made him want to vomit and the only way to make it go away quickly was to take more drugs.

“I prefer to get high on life.” Hanji stated proudly. She always hated Levi’s drug habits and vowed never to do it.

“So this is what you’re going to do? Sit and drink?” Erwin asked with a slightly skeptical look on his face.

“Well that is the original plan.” Eren nodded seriously, pouring him and Armin another one.

“What did you think they were going to do? Go for a round of poker?” Levi asked Erwin mockingly, while the leader huffed a laugh and nodded to himself.

“Well I don’t know about poker…” Armin dragged on after taking his shot. “But I think Eren still has a karaoke machine.”

…

Levi wasn’t quite sure how they got there. One moment Armin mentioned a karaoke machine and another he was watching a duet of ‘500 miles’ right in front of him, with dances and everything. The funny thing was that not one side of the singing party was even slightly drunk.

Armin and Eren cackled, while Levi’s eyes were wide open as Erwin and Hanji were singing passionately the chorus part again. Almost 200 years of existing and _now_ he had seen everything. He really wished he had the ability to get drunk, because it seemed like the only way to survive this.

The vampire was down sitting on the ground because Hanji accidentally spilt half a bottle of tequila on the couch. Thank god for her, Eren was already too drunk to care. The place was already a mess. In just a few hours there was shit everywhere. He felt sort of bad for Eren since he was going to have to clean it all up. Levi wasn’t planning on helping though.

The song was over and Armin was up next with Erwin helping him. While they were picking the song, Hanji had flopped down on the ground next to him.

“Hey grumpy, why aren’t you joining us? Come on, next round, we’ll go.” Hanji suggested, patting him on the back.

“Hm, that’s a good idea, just hold on, I gotta go puke my guts out first.” Levi replied sarcastically as ever and even lifted himself up a little as if to head to the bathroom.

“Alright alright.” Hanji rolled her eyes. “What about if you go with Eren?” she asked quietly, so that the kid who was sitting not so far from them wouldn’t hear.

Levi merely huffed under his breath and said nothing.

“C’mon, It’s been weeks since you guys hooked up, you gotta keep the fire running.” She encouraged. “It looks like it’s already sparking with the looks you’ve been giving each other all night.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“The only thing that’s sparking is your imagination.” Levi mocked, but Hanji was used to that by now.

“You just gotta give it a little nudge y’know? A little push and I bet Eren will just fall back in your arms.” Hanji assured nonetheless.

“Hanji, it’s not-“

“Cause the fire is right there, between you, you just need to ignite it-“ Hanji carried on, not listening.

“It’s not in my power to ignite anything so just piss off.” Levi replied truly bitterly this time. Hanji leaned back with a look of surprise on her face. Maybe Levi pushed it, but so did Hanji with her constant nagging. It seemed Eren heard Levi say something that time as he looked over to their side with a questioning look on his face, but Levi merely shook his head, saying it was nothing. Eren understood, nodded and went back to staring at the performers singing ‘Teenage Dirtbag’.

…

Levi had went into the kitchen to shield himself from all the commotion, and also because he was thirsty. As he was filling up the cup with tap water, Levi quietly smiled to himself. Even months later, he still found those kids idiotically amusing. With an absent mind he grabbed for the phone in his pocket only to realize it wasn’t there. Oh god, he was going to have to go to Eren’s bedroom to get it from his coat. He’d have to encounter _it_ again.

With music and laughter still echoing in the living room Levi dreadfully made his way to the bedroom. Levi realized there was no point in delaying it and quickly swung the door open and switched on the lights.

“You.” Levi stated with disgust, looking at Sasha who had just jumped up from her slumber and was now growling at Levi. The vampire took cautious steps towards the bed where his coat was, while the dog followed him with her fierce black eyes, not once letting her guard down. She suddenly growled louder once Levi was reaching for the bed.

“Okay let’s get this straight.” Levi demanded, suddenly drawing his arm back from the bed. “You don’t like me and I don’t like you, but I’m not here to pick a fight with you. I just want my goddamn phone.” He reasoned, while Sasha was still growling, yet not seeming like she was planning on moving from her spot either. That seemed like a good sign as any. At least it didn’t seem like Levi’s arm was in danger of being bitten off. “So let’s just try to tolerate each other for the time being, alright?” Levi added softly. Sasha’s growling ceased a little and she tilted her head at him in curiosity. Wasn’t ‘trying to reason with a stranger’s dog’ somewhere on the list of ‘signs you might be going crazy’? “We have our differences, I fucking know that, but we still have one thing in common, one thing that we both li-“

“Are you talking with my dog?” Eren slurred confused, leaning on his door frame for support.

“We were just settling some grounds.” Levi explained, taking his phone from his coat pocket now that Eren’s presence calmed down Sasha.

“What are you even doing here on your own?” Eren asked with a frown, coming inside the room. “Grandpa couldn’t handle the party?” he asked mockingly and laughed at his own little joke. He swayed a little more and had to put his hand against the wall to steady him, which at the same time hit the light switch and it was dark in the room again.

“No, but one more drink and it’ll be you who can’t handle it.” Levi stated all knowingly, seeing how Eren was giggling from his little accident, yet he didn’t turn the lights back on.

“Nah, my body is the one that’s drunk, but my mind is still pretty clear.” He explained trying to put on a serious face, stepping closer to the vampire. “And my mind is telling me that maybe you should relax and liven up a little.” He nodded to himself, standing in Levi’s personal space, sliding the folds of his blazer between his fingers. Levi could smell his racing heartbeat and the blood inside of him rushing excitedly.

“You really need to work on your pick up lines.” Levi couldn’t help but smile at the drunken kid in front of him.

“Yeah?” Eren seemed unaffected by the little insult, which surprised the vampire. He subtly slid his hands under Levi’s blazer and suddenly the vampire realized the racing heartbeat belonged to him and not Eren. “Then how’s this?” he asked innocently, leaning down a little, just close enough that Levi could feel Eren breathing on his face, inches away from his lips.

Levi couldn’t tell if the banging heartbeat belonged to him, to Eren or to both of them. That didn’t matter though, because he was so damn close and suddenly Levi felt the same way he did when they first hooked up. Who was he even kidding saying that this was just a onetime thing, something they needed to do to dissolve this tension? It only made it worse. Because now Levi knew what it was like and just like a drug he craved just a little more, just a little closer.

It seemed like the easiest thing in the world to lift up his head a little and brush his lips against Eren’s. It was as natural as walking and breathing. It was only when Eren opened his mouth and Levi felt the vodka on his tongue did he realize that maybe it wasn’t so natural after all.

“No, Eren.” Levi drew away, taking a step back.

“What?” he asked confused, slightly swaying since he wasn’t holding on to Levi anymore. God why was he making it so hard? He was the one who set up the rules that this shouldn’t happen again.

“You’re drunk and you’re gonna thank me later for doing this.” Levi stated all-knowingly.

“But we’re not doing anything.” Eren shrugged innocently like he didn’t understand. “It’s just kissing.” He shook his head, stepping closer to Levi again, reaching to put his hands on Levi’s hips.

“Yeah sure and later it’ll be _just_ my dick in your ass.” Levi rolled his eyes, taking hold of Eren’s hands and taking them away from his sides. The hands were so fucking warm and Levi cursed about a thousand times in his head before letting them go. “We should get back to the party.” He sighed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t.” Eren pleaded. “Why should we? We both want this, so why the fuck not?” He just wasn’t giving up. That brat never gives up.

“But you don’t want this, you’re just saying that ‘cause you’re drunk and turned on.” Levi explained calmly, reaching over to turn on the lights. Eren squinted at the sudden brightness. “I’d be using you then.” Levi admitted grimly, while Eren was staring back with a somewhat guilty look, but that could’ve also been his drunkenness. “Now c’mon, I think Erwin is singing ‘I will survive’ and you don’t wanna miss that.

When they got back to the living room however, they found the music playing yet no one was singing along. Instead Armin was holding an old looking notebook in his hands, reading it aloud with a dramatic look on his face while walking back and forth on the couch. Hanji and Erwin were out of breath from the karaoke, sitting on the ground and enjoying the show.

“I kept shaking her, she had to snap out of it! But my shrill and desperate voice wasn’t reaching her, she was frozen like a statue, staring into nothing with her dark empty eyes.” Armin recited dramatically.

At first Eren was laughing at the little spectacle, even nudged Levi and gave him a ‘can you believe this?’ look. However soon his face frowned curiously, trying to get passed the drunken barrier and understand where he had heard these words before.

“I felt tears welling up inside of me. What had they done to her? Would she ever be able to get over this like a bad nightmare? Who could’ve done such a thing? By the time the first tears fell they were hot with rage that I didn’t know I carried inside of me. For a moment it scared me-“ Armin went on like he was telling a fairy tale to children.

“Hey! That’s my notebook!” Eren finally exclaimed as he launched towards his friend, attempting to tackle him to the ground. Even Levi had figured it out by then, and he hadn’t heard a word from it prior. Armin was laughing however, jumping from couch cushion to couch cushion, evading Eren’s arms.

“My blood was boiling and every single one of my muscles was pulling inside of me so hard I thought they were going to rip.” Armin kept on reading what he could as he was moving around. Levi simply leaned against the wall and watched the spectacle with a small smile.

“Give it back asshole!” Eren yelled, out of breath from trying to catch him. Despite the fact that Armin was little and well drunk he was still quick as a cat. Erwin should’ve noticed that and helped him develop this skill further.

However the show ended just as it started, Armin slipped up and fell on the ground with a loud thud. Eren’s face frowned in worry instantly as he quickly went over to his side, the three vampires had also jumped up a little at the loud noise his fall made.

“Hey, you alright?” Hanji was the first to ask as Armin slowly lifted up his head with a pained expression on his face. Levi stood a bit further, there wasn’t much he could do, and it didn’t look like the kid was seriously injured anyway.

“Mhm, was this room always spinning?” Armin asked after a while of rubbing his head and trying to open his eyes, not really focusing on his surroundings.

“Yeah okay, I think it’s time we took you home.” Erwin concluded helping him stand up, Hanji was holding him from the other side. Eren wanted to help, but the vampires got there first. Frankly Eren was even less stable than Armin at that point.

“You’re leaving?” Eren asked with a confused look, keeping a hand on the wall for support, yet still swaying in place.

“It’s 3am and yeah, I think Armin’s had enough.” Levi explained to him as Hanji and Erwin were helping him dress up. Armin wasn’t really listening anymore. “And so did you. C’mon let’s get you to bed.” Levi concluded, putting and arm around his shoulders and trying to lead him to his room.

“You coming, Levi?” Hanji asked from the hallway.

“Yeah, just a sec.” he replied quickly. It wouldn’t be good for either of them if Levi decided to stay the night. Not to mention he didn’t want to give Hanji any more ammunition for later teasing about him and Eren. With every second it seemed the alcohol was doing its job at making Eren lose coordination and consciousness.

“Levi…” He still muttered under his breath while Levi was half carrying him to the bedroom now.

“Yup, that’s still my name.” Levi agreed, putting him in bed and trying very hard to ignore Sasha’s eyes on him. However, she wasn’t growling. Levi almost got the feeling she was watching if Levi was taking care of her owner properly. “This isn’t over.” Levi squinted his eyes at the dog.

“What?” Eren asked half asleep, not even bothering to take off his slippers or put a blanket over himself. Levi did that for him though.

“Nothing. Go to sleep, kid.” Levi assured before leaving the room to join his family. Erwin had called for a cab since it didn’t look like Armin was stable enough to walk home.

Somehow all of this reminded Levi of the first night when he met Eren and his friends. Actually those two nights had almost nothing in common now that Levi thought about it. However that reminded Levi of something. While they still had time till the cab arrived, Levi went into the kitchen and then back to Eren’s room, placing a glass of cold tap water beside him.

…

The cab ride was unbelievably slow and dreadful. They asked the driver to go slower because Armin had suddenly gotten nauseous. Earlier Erwin checked if he didn’t have a concussion from his fall, which thankfully wasn’t the case. Not to mention Levi’s vision was still full of spots because some idiot group outside at 3 fucking am decided to take selfies or some shit with the flash on. He could’ve easily come over and kicked those guys in the groin while they were doing it, the camera shot would’ve looked priceless.

During the ride though, Levi noticed Armin was clutching something in his arms. It wasn’t that hard to pry it away from him and sure enough, it was Eren’s notebook. What was it with drunk people suddenly getting incredibly possessive? Was it because on some level they know they’re drunk so they can get away with doing stupid shit? Alright, maybe Levi needed some shut eye too before he started to get all philosophical.

They dropped off Armin at his apartment and walked rest of the way home since it wasn’t far. Hanji and Erwin were sharing their experience at the party even though they were both at the same party together. They really needed to get out more.

Meanwhile Levi was flipping through Eren’s notebook. That probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it wasn’t a diary or anything. In fact he was only interested in one story, the one Armin was retelling. Levi didn’t want to pry Eren on the details of that night, but now he had the chance to find out. However the further he read the sicker he felt in the stomach and he didn’t understand why. He had read and seen things much more horrible than this, but there was still something about it that was making him get goose bumps. The story was simple and complicated at the same time. His cousin and her family were living further away from the city when their house was attacked by at least 2 people. The parents’ throats were slashed and their house was robbed. The little girl saw everything happen and barely survived. She was so shocked and traumatized she had gone mute for a few years after it happened. She waited 2 days in the same house till Eren and his family came for a visit and found her.

 Eren had a collection of police reports and the like about the incident, which was probably his attempt at solving it. Levi gave a half hearted glance towards them and something caught his eye. Something that Eren obviously didn’t pay attention to and didn’t see as an important clue. Levi didn’t blame him though. The lack of blood at the crime scene could’ve been explained or excused somehow. But to Levi it meant something else entirely. It meant he knew who or more like what sort of creature did this.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any typos. I was so excited to post it I proof read it only once.


End file.
